History Stood in the Room
The Day of Remembrance (February 19) commemorates the signing of Executive Order 9066 in 1942, which authorized the forced removal and mass incarceration of more than 120,000 Japanese Americans during World War II.
She asked us to look around the room and consider the ages of the artists when they were interned. Howard Ikemoto — just 3 years old., Ben Sakoguchi — 5 years old., Claire Haratani — a teenager.
In that moment, the walls felt different. The art was no longer simply art on display. It was history standing among us. The works by Howard Ikemoto, Ben Sakoguchi, Claire Haratani, Mayumi Oda, and the 1945 Heart Mountain painting by J. Mitauchi carried not just aesthetic power, but lived experience — displacement, resilience, survival, and the enduring search for peace.
Dr. Yang also spoke to the political parallels of today. It was important to stop and pause together, and to share openly as a community.
At Tumbleweed Found, our work centers on stewarding objects in partnership with families while honoring the personal and cultural histories they carry. As we grow into our third year, I hope to create more opportunities for reflection and conversation while thoughtfully transitioning meaningful works to new caretakers and engaging with history.
Farewell to Manzanar — Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston
Camp Notes and Other Poems — Mitsuye Yamada
America Is in the Heart — Carlos Bulosan
No-No Boy — John Okada
Displacement — Kiku Hughes
From Our Side of the Fence: Growing Up in America’s Concentration Camps — Edited by Brian Komai Dempster
Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience — Edited by Lawson Fusao Inada
Imagining Japanese America: The Visual Construction of Citizenship, Nation, and the Body — Elena Tajima Creef
Iron Cages: Race and Culture in 19th-Century America — Ronald T. Takaki
Rightlessness: Testimony and Redress in U.S. Prison Camps since World War II — A. Naomi Paik
Journey to Washington — Senator Daniel K. Inouye with Lawrence Elliott
Un-American: The Incarceration of Japanese Americans During World War II — Richard Cahan & Michael Williams
Ruth Asawa — Tiffany Bell and Robert Storr
What Did the Internment of Japanese Americans Mean? (Historians at Work)—Readings Selected and Introduced by Alice Yang Murray
Questions 27 & 28—Karen Tei Yamashita
Contact us to learn more, to purchase available works, or to inquire about Tumbleweed Found presenting your or a loved one’s collection..
