Then They Came for Me

Installation view of “Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties.”

The “Enemy Alien” jacket issued to Itaru Ina in 1945. Internees were informed that if they tried to escape, the bullseye is where guards would aim their rifles.

A toy tank a father made for his child while living in the camps. The tank is made from found wood scraps, thread spools and checkers.

An excerpt from the exhibit text reads: “Due to the authorities’ insistence on the hurried removal of all those of Japanese ancestry from the ‘exclusion zones’ on the West Coast—108 contiguous, meticulously defined areas were ultimately created—and the limitation that ‘evacuees’ could bring only what they could carry, a wide range of steamer trunks, suitcases, duffle bags, wicker baskets and improvised containers found their way to the camps.”

View of the exhibit space.