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Born Free And Equal: The Story of Loyal Japanese Americans
It was 1943. In Yosemite National Park, the magnificent Ahwahnee Hotel closed its doors to tourists, transformed into a temporary Naval convalescent hospital. Wartime shortages forced the rationing of gasoline, sugar, and film. Living with his wife, Virginia Best Adams and their children in Yosemite Valley, Ansel Adams, sought ways to help with the war effort. Too old to enlist, he volunteered for a number of assignments in which his photographic skills were put to the country's use. Among his contributions, he both escorted and photographed Army troops at Yosemite training for mountain warfare in Europe; he taught photography to the Signal Corps at Fort Ord, and traveled to the Presidio in San Francisco to print classified photographs of Japanese military installations on the Aleutian Islands. Despite his volunteer efforts, he was frustrated that he could not do more to help the war effort. That summer, friend Ralph Merritt asked Adams if he would be interested in creating a photographic record of a little-known government facility in the Owens Valley, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. "I cannot pay you a cent," Merritt told Adams, "but I can put you up and feed you." Merritt was director of the Manzanar War Relocation Center, a collection of hundreds of tar-paper barracks hastily built to house more than 10,000 people, behind barbed wire and gun towers. All were of Japanese Ancestry, but most were American citizens, forcibly removed from their homes to ten relocation centers across the country by presidential order. The resulting effort was the book Born Free and The Story of Loyal Japanese Americans published by U.S. Camera in 1944 under the direction of the War Relocation Authority. While at Manzanar, Adams met Toyo Miyatake, the official camp photographer, interned with his wife and children. A student of the great photographer, Edward Weston, Miyatake had established his own respected professional photography studio in Los Angeles before the war. In the introduction to this book, MiyatakeÕs son, Archie, who was then 16-years old, recalls the visit made so long ago. In 1965, Adams wrote in a letter to Dr. Edgar Brietenbach at the Library of " . . . I think this Manzanar Collection is an important historical document and I trust it can be put to good use. . . " In the autumn of 2000, before the Manzanar photographs of Ansel Adams were available digitally and only available as 8x10 photographic reproductions, editor Wynne Benti spent two weeks in the collections of the Library of Congress and NARA, locating many, but not all of the photographs that appeared in the original book. The book went to press as two jets crashed into the World Trade Center, thus the addition of the American flag behind the cover photograph of Joyce Nakamura Okazaki. Spotted Dog Press republished Adams' work, Born Free and Equal, introducing it to new generations of Americans.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1944
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About the author
Ansel Adams
414 books361 followersPeople note black-and-white photographs of the American wilderness of American photographer Ansel Easton Adams.
Though wilderness and the environment were his grand passions, photography was his calling, his metier, his raison d'etre.
From: Ansel Adams, Photographer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_A...
Though wilderness and the environment were his grand passions, photography was his calling, his metier, his raison d'etre.
From: Ansel Adams, Photographer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansel_A...
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 9, 2012
I am not Japanese. In fact, I’m Korean, but as I opened this book, my eyes kept tearing up. This is not an emotional book, but the question that I’ve asked since high school has made me tear up, once again. The question is – how, how could these men volunteer to fight of a country that, in all actuality stripped them of their citizenship and found them of guilty of things they haven’t even thought of doing? The American government had taken their homes, their livelihood, and their place in the society. Their families were forced to live behind barbed wire fences when these men willingly and bravely fought for the country which had put them there. How? How could they have done that? I wish I could say I’d do the same, but even now, my answer, when it comes down to it is I don’t know…. I’m afraid my heart is not big enough to forgive them. So, I read this book in matter of hours (yes, it’s a short book full of gorgeous pictures). In the earlier pages, next to forward, there’s a picture of a beautiful girl. The caption says – An American school girl and I’m crying. I thank Ansel Adams for his humanity.
I’ve known the story about 442nd combat team since high school. My high school was very good about bringing survivors (Holocaust week) or participants (Japanese internment) for special talks. And fortunately for me, one of my best friends from high school was Japanese and her father generously shared his own stories. I’ll get back to what I remember most of his stories, but for now, I’ll be getting back to 442nd.
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army was a regimental size fighting unit composed almost entirely of American soldiers of Japanese descent who volunteered to fight in World War II even though their families were subject to internment. The 442nd, beginning in 1944, fought primarily in Europe during World War II. The 442nd was a self-sufficient force, and fought with uncommon distinction in Italy, southern France, and Germany. The 442nd is considered to be the most decorated infantry regiment in the history of the United States Army. The 442nd was awarded eight Presidential Unit Citations and twenty-one of its members were awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team motto was, "Go for Broke". (From Wikipedia)
This is one of those books I’d list as a “must read” for everyone. Not because of its plot, writing, character development, dialogue, etc., but for its content. This book contains beautiful Ansel Adams photos, but that’s not the reason. This is a story that every American should try to remember, just as the Germans try not to bury holocaust in the annals of their history.
After having read the book, I think I understand the reason, at least a little bit. The simple answer is the dignity of the Japanese Americans interned in Mazanar. They, as a group, took the high road when everything around them imploded and turned ugly. How they were treated by their government didn’t warrant them losing sight of their own dignity and respect. No matter what happened, they’d be true to the values they were born to and raised with. When I read about a mother whose five sons were in the American Armed services fighting in the European theater, I prayed for her sons (of course, the absurdity is that they might have survived the war and all died of old age). I don’t know why this book affected me this way, but it did.
A couple of years ago, yet another movie about Nazi atrocities came out in theaters, and I asked a friend of mine who had come to America to study then married. I asked her what she thought of yet another movie. Didn’t she get tired of this German bashing? I’d get tired of it if I had to see a movie about Nazi atrocities every couple of years. And she said, she didn’t mind at all. In fact, she felt that it’s every German’s responsibility to remember the holocaust so that it could never happen again, not only in Germany, but anywhere else in the world because there will be a German voice protesting it. I found this very inspirational.
As Americans, we need to follow suit. We need to look squarely into the past and see what we’ve done, what we still fail to do today, and what concrete steps we must take to make sure nothing like this will ever happen again here.
Additional note: The people who were at the Manzanar internment camp were those who chose to sign the loyalty oath. Those who refused to sign the loyalty oath were sent elsewhere. Most of those who didn’t sign the oath believed that the government had broken the sacred contract with them first (which I whole heartedly agree), and not because they were Japanese agents waiting for opportunities to sabotage the west coast. Later, after the war, it was revealed that most of the intel on America that the Japanese had were in fact from the Germans, rather than anyone from America.
I’ve known the story about 442nd combat team since high school. My high school was very good about bringing survivors (Holocaust week) or participants (Japanese internment) for special talks. And fortunately for me, one of my best friends from high school was Japanese and her father generously shared his own stories. I’ll get back to what I remember most of his stories, but for now, I’ll be getting back to 442nd.
The 442nd Regimental Combat Team of the United States Army was a regimental size fighting unit composed almost entirely of American soldiers of Japanese descent who volunteered to fight in World War II even though their families were subject to internment. The 442nd, beginning in 1944, fought primarily in Europe during World War II. The 442nd was a self-sufficient force, and fought with uncommon distinction in Italy, southern France, and Germany. The 442nd is considered to be the most decorated infantry regiment in the history of the United States Army. The 442nd was awarded eight Presidential Unit Citations and twenty-one of its members were awarded the Medal of Honor for World War II. The 442nd Regimental Combat Team motto was, "Go for Broke". (From Wikipedia)
This is one of those books I’d list as a “must read” for everyone. Not because of its plot, writing, character development, dialogue, etc., but for its content. This book contains beautiful Ansel Adams photos, but that’s not the reason. This is a story that every American should try to remember, just as the Germans try not to bury holocaust in the annals of their history.
After having read the book, I think I understand the reason, at least a little bit. The simple answer is the dignity of the Japanese Americans interned in Mazanar. They, as a group, took the high road when everything around them imploded and turned ugly. How they were treated by their government didn’t warrant them losing sight of their own dignity and respect. No matter what happened, they’d be true to the values they were born to and raised with. When I read about a mother whose five sons were in the American Armed services fighting in the European theater, I prayed for her sons (of course, the absurdity is that they might have survived the war and all died of old age). I don’t know why this book affected me this way, but it did.
A couple of years ago, yet another movie about Nazi atrocities came out in theaters, and I asked a friend of mine who had come to America to study then married. I asked her what she thought of yet another movie. Didn’t she get tired of this German bashing? I’d get tired of it if I had to see a movie about Nazi atrocities every couple of years. And she said, she didn’t mind at all. In fact, she felt that it’s every German’s responsibility to remember the holocaust so that it could never happen again, not only in Germany, but anywhere else in the world because there will be a German voice protesting it. I found this very inspirational.
As Americans, we need to follow suit. We need to look squarely into the past and see what we’ve done, what we still fail to do today, and what concrete steps we must take to make sure nothing like this will ever happen again here.
Additional note: The people who were at the Manzanar internment camp were those who chose to sign the loyalty oath. Those who refused to sign the loyalty oath were sent elsewhere. Most of those who didn’t sign the oath believed that the government had broken the sacred contract with them first (which I whole heartedly agree), and not because they were Japanese agents waiting for opportunities to sabotage the west coast. Later, after the war, it was revealed that most of the intel on America that the Japanese had were in fact from the Germans, rather than anyone from America.
March 31, 2014
A beautiful and moving series of photographs, especially considering the time when it was first published. The only downside was that Ansel Adams wrote all the text, and while he is an inspiring photographer, his attempts to describe the political and social climate of Japanese internment camps just come off as pretentious.
September 18, 2025
I found this a fascinating book. The premise behind it is unique. Ansel Adams came to Manzanar in the fall of 1943 wanting to identify his "photography in some creative way with the tragic momentum of the times." Adams does an amazing job of capturing the people and the locale, adding his own narrative of the experience and his encounters.
From the back dust jacket, "At the onset of World War II, Ansel Adams, who was living in Yosemite with his wife and children, sought out ways to help with the war effort. Too old to enlist, he volunteered for a number of assignments in which his photographic skills were put to the country's use. He both escorted and photographed Army troops at Yosemite training for mountain warfare in Europe; he taught photography to the Signal Corps at Fort Ord, and he traveled to the Presidio in San Francisco to print classified photographs of Japanese military installations on the Aleutian Islands. Despite his volunteer efforts, he was frustrated that he could not do more.
"That summer, Friend Ralph Merritt asked Adams if he would be interested in photographing a little-know government facility in the Owens Valley, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. 'I cannot pay you a cent,' Merritt told Adams, 'but I can put you up and feed you.' Merritt was director of the Manzanar War Relocation Center, a collection of several hundred tarpapered barracks built atop a remote desert plain where more than 10,000 people were housed behind barbed wire and gun towers. All were of Japanese ancestry, but most were American citizens, forcibly removed from their homes by presidential order to ten relocation centers across the country. The resulting effort was the book 'Born Free and Equal: The Story of Loyal Japanese Americans' published by U.S. Camera under the direction of the War Relocation Authority.
"While at Manzanar, Adams met Toyo Miyatake, official camp photographer, interned with his wife and children. Long before the war, Miyatake had studied with the great photographer, Edward Weston, and had established his own respected photography studio in downtown Los Angeles. In the introduction to this book, Miyatake's son, Archie, who was then sixteen years old, recalls Adams visit.
"In 195, Adams donated his Manzanar photographs to the Library of Congress. he wrote in a letter to Dr. Edgar Brietenbach: '...I think this Manzanar Collection is an important historical document and I trust it can be put to good use..." With the goal of realizing that good use, Spotted Dog Press, Inc. presents 'Born Free and Equal' to new generations of Americans who may come to a better understanding of an incident in our recent history that should never be forgotten."
From the back dust jacket, "At the onset of World War II, Ansel Adams, who was living in Yosemite with his wife and children, sought out ways to help with the war effort. Too old to enlist, he volunteered for a number of assignments in which his photographic skills were put to the country's use. He both escorted and photographed Army troops at Yosemite training for mountain warfare in Europe; he taught photography to the Signal Corps at Fort Ord, and he traveled to the Presidio in San Francisco to print classified photographs of Japanese military installations on the Aleutian Islands. Despite his volunteer efforts, he was frustrated that he could not do more.
"That summer, Friend Ralph Merritt asked Adams if he would be interested in photographing a little-know government facility in the Owens Valley, on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. 'I cannot pay you a cent,' Merritt told Adams, 'but I can put you up and feed you.' Merritt was director of the Manzanar War Relocation Center, a collection of several hundred tarpapered barracks built atop a remote desert plain where more than 10,000 people were housed behind barbed wire and gun towers. All were of Japanese ancestry, but most were American citizens, forcibly removed from their homes by presidential order to ten relocation centers across the country. The resulting effort was the book 'Born Free and Equal: The Story of Loyal Japanese Americans' published by U.S. Camera under the direction of the War Relocation Authority.
"While at Manzanar, Adams met Toyo Miyatake, official camp photographer, interned with his wife and children. Long before the war, Miyatake had studied with the great photographer, Edward Weston, and had established his own respected photography studio in downtown Los Angeles. In the introduction to this book, Miyatake's son, Archie, who was then sixteen years old, recalls Adams visit.
"In 195, Adams donated his Manzanar photographs to the Library of Congress. he wrote in a letter to Dr. Edgar Brietenbach: '...I think this Manzanar Collection is an important historical document and I trust it can be put to good use..." With the goal of realizing that good use, Spotted Dog Press, Inc. presents 'Born Free and Equal' to new generations of Americans who may come to a better understanding of an incident in our recent history that should never be forgotten."
Read
September 26, 2024I initially approached this book with a lot of skepticism, expecting to be very critical of the whole thing given what I knew about Ansel Adams and his approach to photography in the camps. I actually ended up being kind of surprised by nuance and awareness that Adams put in his writing/captions - such as the acknowledgment that as primarily a landscape photographer, he tends to gravitate towards that kind of composition in his camp photos and less on the subjects themselves. He also talked about historical anti-Asian discrimination such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, which I wasn't expecting.
So while I am still critical of some aspects of his wartime work, I think his photographs still carry a lot of historical importance.
One interesting thing of note: His emphasis on the "loyal" Japanese Americans (even in the title) seems to be a recurring motif throughout his text and photos. Having also read Seen and Unseen, it's interesting to now have the perspective from that book when approaching this one. Adams appears to have been supportive of Japanese Americans so long as they demonstrated themselves to be patriotic and loyal US citizens. Not so much a stance against the existence of the concentration camps in general .
So while I am still critical of some aspects of his wartime work, I think his photographs still carry a lot of historical importance.
One interesting thing of note: His emphasis on the "loyal" Japanese Americans (even in the title) seems to be a recurring motif throughout his text and photos. Having also read Seen and Unseen, it's interesting to now have the perspective from that book when approaching this one. Adams appears to have been supportive of Japanese Americans so long as they demonstrated themselves to be patriotic and loyal US citizens. Not so much a stance against the existence of the concentration camps in general .
October 7, 2020
"Nothing is more permanent about Manzanar than the dust which has lodged on its tar-papered barracks, except the indelible impression incised on the lives of thousands of its inhabitants." (25)
Was this a flawless, unbiased, completely unproblematic text? No. Did it make some great points? Absolutely. I was surprised by his perceptive anti-racist commentary - his warning about model minorities actually predicted what would happen a decade later. And of course, the photos are stunning. Thoroughly enjoyed. I mean, I actually read a 100-page essay for class in full because the writing was surprisingly good.
It didn't hurt that the political commentary about fascism and racism as our eventual downfall felt a little spicy in October of 2020! Some favorite conclusive quotes:
"Will narrow, economically selfish groups maintain constant active opposition, especially in agricultural areas, where labor has never been adequately paid? Are perfectly loyal American citizens to be hounded by the specter of social insecurity for the rest of their lives? Political expediency dictates a definite avoidance of these problems because their solution necessitates sacrifice, generosity, and tolerance, on the part of each of us. No politician dares ask anything of his constituents, except their votes." (102)
"We, as citizens, can agitate for tolerance and fair play, but our agitation must be dynamic and persistent. It is easy for a "fair-weather lover of the Constitution" to "favor" tolerance, and mouth the principles of democracy, but it is quite another thing to stand up against opposition and fight for principles." (103)
Was this a flawless, unbiased, completely unproblematic text? No. Did it make some great points? Absolutely. I was surprised by his perceptive anti-racist commentary - his warning about model minorities actually predicted what would happen a decade later. And of course, the photos are stunning. Thoroughly enjoyed. I mean, I actually read a 100-page essay for class in full because the writing was surprisingly good.
It didn't hurt that the political commentary about fascism and racism as our eventual downfall felt a little spicy in October of 2020! Some favorite conclusive quotes:
"Will narrow, economically selfish groups maintain constant active opposition, especially in agricultural areas, where labor has never been adequately paid? Are perfectly loyal American citizens to be hounded by the specter of social insecurity for the rest of their lives? Political expediency dictates a definite avoidance of these problems because their solution necessitates sacrifice, generosity, and tolerance, on the part of each of us. No politician dares ask anything of his constituents, except their votes." (102)
"We, as citizens, can agitate for tolerance and fair play, but our agitation must be dynamic and persistent. It is easy for a "fair-weather lover of the Constitution" to "favor" tolerance, and mouth the principles of democracy, but it is quite another thing to stand up against opposition and fight for principles." (103)
March 21, 2017
Ansel Adams is renown for his magnificent landscape and nature photos, but a series of his portraits and storytelling photos came to my attention after viewing a recent exhibit at the Crocker Art Museum. Two Views: Photographs by Ansel Adams and Leonard Frank opened on the 75th anniversary of President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 which enabled the U.S. Government to relocate/incarcerate 120,000 Americans of Japanese heritage during WWII. In 1943 Adams, who knew the director of the Manzanar Relocation Center in the southern California desert, asked to come and take photos of the 10,000 people living in the center. His goal was to show the industriousness, loyalty, perseverance and ordinary family life of the people, most of whom were American citizens, many well educated and trained as lawyers, teachers and nurses, as well as skilled mechanics, secretaries, farmers and businessmen. With his own resources, Adams published Born Free and Equal, using his own text and striking photos to show individuals with the same hopes and dreams as other Americans whose lives also had been affected by the war. Those in the camp wanted to educate their children, support their loved ones in the military and live a life with freedom of choice. Adams' point was that in America people are to be judged as individuals not as a group.
I believe Adams hoped his book would pave the way for the Japanese as they eventually were freed to start new lives elsewhere. Born Free and Equal was controversial; not everyone agreed with his views and continued to harbor prejudice. The edition I read was not the original but one published in 2002 by the Manzanar Committee, Friends of the Eastern California Museum. It contains several interesting new essays by individuals photographed by Adams as well as a few new photos. It was Adams' original portraits, however, that really moved me; the joyful humanity and hope he captured during this difficult time is amazing -- memorable faces looking directly at the viewer.
I believe Adams hoped his book would pave the way for the Japanese as they eventually were freed to start new lives elsewhere. Born Free and Equal was controversial; not everyone agreed with his views and continued to harbor prejudice. The edition I read was not the original but one published in 2002 by the Manzanar Committee, Friends of the Eastern California Museum. It contains several interesting new essays by individuals photographed by Adams as well as a few new photos. It was Adams' original portraits, however, that really moved me; the joyful humanity and hope he captured during this difficult time is amazing -- memorable faces looking directly at the viewer.
December 7, 2022
There was a lot more content in here than I expected! Some of it was hard to read because times and ideologies have changed since Ansel Adams wrote it, but also because there really was no clear answer at the time for what was the right thing for the country vs for the people. But I very much appreciated hearing personal interviews with people incarcerated in Manzanar and obviously the photos were neat to see.
“… treated as individuals, human beings do not present great problems, but when they are treated as arbitrary racial groups, social and international difficulties are created. It is our task to retain the individual as the foundation of society, introspective of his race, color, or religion. It is a problem we must face and solve — no matter what the cost maybe two or false dignity, or imagine self interest. Left unsolved, the cost will prove beyond computation.”
“… treated as individuals, human beings do not present great problems, but when they are treated as arbitrary racial groups, social and international difficulties are created. It is our task to retain the individual as the foundation of society, introspective of his race, color, or religion. It is a problem we must face and solve — no matter what the cost maybe two or false dignity, or imagine self interest. Left unsolved, the cost will prove beyond computation.”
March 17, 2019
Interesting account of Japanese internment during WWII, photographed and written by Ansel Adams. I really enjoyed Adems' writing. He was ahead of his time in opinion, but I'm curious to read additional accounts from Japanese perspective, as this book definitely had political aims and is likely quite glazing over many of the less enjoyable aspects. Awful time in US history (we have quite a few of those).
April 10, 2023
5 stars for the photos. 2.5 stars for the prose.
February 26, 2025
An excellent overview and study of life at Manzanar. Adams photography is intentionally real and raw.
January 19, 2025
This is a rerelease of the original book about the Japanese Relocation Camp in Manzanar CA. When the book was first published it was pulled by the federal agency that allowed it to be published and destroyed. Adams in turn did not renew the copyright and took the book and photos and gave them to the Library of Congress. This edition has some addition information of the camp and the original text of the book.
April 28, 2022
I bought this as a "deluxe" reprinted hardcover edition at the Manzanar National Historic site. If you get a chance to visit, you really must.
Five stars for the photography of Ansel Adams is too few. He photographed the Japanese Americans in Manzanar with respect and great determination to portray them accurately within their daily camp lives. The version of this I read was a republication of the WW2-era version, with the entire text of Ansel Adams intact, and a preface explaining why the text was left intact even though Adams used terminology we might eschew today ("evacuees", for example). Adams wanted to show the American population at large what good people the Japanese American "evacuees" were, and in doing so, did not cast much criticism upon the government (whose guest he was in his work at Manzanar) for the existence of the camps. He instead took it as an accepted fact that the camps were necessary even if unjust, and the problem facing America at the moment was to figure out how to make it right going forward how to re-integrate the Japanese Americans in a way that promoted racial harmony. This, of course, was in an era of continued segregation and Jim Crow, making it doubly hard to convince Americans that yet another group of non-whites was deserving of equal treatment. It is useful to see a prominent voice in America of the time carefully addressing his audience.
Well worth the read, and again, the photos give such a deep level of humanity to all the words we read about the camps and the people whose lives were disrupted to satisfy the prejudices of a nation at war.
Five stars for the photography of Ansel Adams is too few. He photographed the Japanese Americans in Manzanar with respect and great determination to portray them accurately within their daily camp lives. The version of this I read was a republication of the WW2-era version, with the entire text of Ansel Adams intact, and a preface explaining why the text was left intact even though Adams used terminology we might eschew today ("evacuees", for example). Adams wanted to show the American population at large what good people the Japanese American "evacuees" were, and in doing so, did not cast much criticism upon the government (whose guest he was in his work at Manzanar) for the existence of the camps. He instead took it as an accepted fact that the camps were necessary even if unjust, and the problem facing America at the moment was to figure out how to make it right going forward how to re-integrate the Japanese Americans in a way that promoted racial harmony. This, of course, was in an era of continued segregation and Jim Crow, making it doubly hard to convince Americans that yet another group of non-whites was deserving of equal treatment. It is useful to see a prominent voice in America of the time carefully addressing his audience.
Well worth the read, and again, the photos give such a deep level of humanity to all the words we read about the camps and the people whose lives were disrupted to satisfy the prejudices of a nation at war.
January 24, 2016
When doing research on Japanese American internment it is always a good thing to go through books that were produced at that time. Books written later are always done in hindsight, of course, and you can lose some of the strong feeling that issues evoked when they were being faced on a daily basis.
This book was published in 1944 and deals with the Manzanar internment center but also has material relating to the issue of internment in general.
One thing that got my interest and attention right off was a quote from a letter from Abraham Lincoln to someone named Joshua Speed, dated 1855:
”As a nation we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except Negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics.' When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty...where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”
That's a pretty powerful statement, at least in my opinion.
Another interesting quote is from Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior in 1944:
”It has long been my belief that the greatness of American has arisen in large part out of the diversity of her peoples. Before the war, peoples of Japanese ancestry were a small but valuable element in our population. Their record of law-abiding, industrious citizenship was surpassed by no other group. Their contribution to the arts, agriculture, and science were indisputable evidence that the majority of them believed in America and were growing with America.
”...It is my prayer that other Americans will fully realize that to condone the whittling away of the rights of any one minority group is to pave the way for us all to lose the guarantees of the Constitution.”
The book also notes a quote from FDR:
”Americanism is a matter of the mind and heart; Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry.”
The book goes into a description of the camp, noting that it covered 5,700 acres. Residential areas covered 620 acres, composed of 36 blocks, each block containing around 16 barracks, a central mess hall, lavatories and service buildings. There were three to five apartments in each barracks, and the barracks were separated by large areas to set up a firebreak in case of a fire. (Any major fire could have totally destroyed the camp and killed many people otherwise.)
Later in the book it's pointed out that the barracks lacked running water.
This book was published in 1944 and deals with the Manzanar internment center but also has material relating to the issue of internment in general.
One thing that got my interest and attention right off was a quote from a letter from Abraham Lincoln to someone named Joshua Speed, dated 1855:
”As a nation we began by declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it 'all men are created equal, except Negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'all men are created equal, except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics.' When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty...where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”
That's a pretty powerful statement, at least in my opinion.
Another interesting quote is from Harold L. Ickes, Secretary of the Interior in 1944:
”It has long been my belief that the greatness of American has arisen in large part out of the diversity of her peoples. Before the war, peoples of Japanese ancestry were a small but valuable element in our population. Their record of law-abiding, industrious citizenship was surpassed by no other group. Their contribution to the arts, agriculture, and science were indisputable evidence that the majority of them believed in America and were growing with America.
”...It is my prayer that other Americans will fully realize that to condone the whittling away of the rights of any one minority group is to pave the way for us all to lose the guarantees of the Constitution.”
The book also notes a quote from FDR:
”Americanism is a matter of the mind and heart; Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry.”
The book goes into a description of the camp, noting that it covered 5,700 acres. Residential areas covered 620 acres, composed of 36 blocks, each block containing around 16 barracks, a central mess hall, lavatories and service buildings. There were three to five apartments in each barracks, and the barracks were separated by large areas to set up a firebreak in case of a fire. (Any major fire could have totally destroyed the camp and killed many people otherwise.)
Later in the book it's pointed out that the barracks lacked running water.
March 5, 2012
I'm currently reading this ISBN, which is a 44 page exhibition catalog for the 1984 Met show of Adams' photographs, as well as a scanned, 112 page online version of Adams' original text and photographs, available on the Library of Congress website.
Adams made many thoughtful portraits and documentary images of the Manzanar internment camp in California. He opens this book with a letter by Abraham Lincoln, written August 24th, 1855:
"As a nation we began declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it, 'all men are created equal, except Negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'All men are created equal, except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics.' When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty."
Adams made many thoughtful portraits and documentary images of the Manzanar internment camp in California. He opens this book with a letter by Abraham Lincoln, written August 24th, 1855:
"As a nation we began declaring that 'all men are created equal.' We now practically read it, 'all men are created equal, except Negroes.' When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read 'All men are created equal, except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics.' When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty."
September 1, 2015
An American willing to stand-up for those wrongly imprisoned
It's a wonderful book, written within the time frame of the photos being taken. A great insight into the person behind the camera.
It's a wonderful book, written within the time frame of the photos being taken. A great insight into the person behind the camera.
July 1, 2020
Sadly, these beautiful photographs are diminished by the fact that Adams chose to show only what supported the government position. None of the hardship or discrimination is in evidence - only the beauty of the Sierra and the strength of the Japanese-Americans.
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