An informational forum on the inmates at the Tule Lake Segregation Center will be presented on Sunday, Feb. 22, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the San Fernando Valley Japanese American Community Center, 12953 Branford St. in Pacoima.
Sponsored by the San Fernando Valley JACL, the forum is free and open to the public.
Featured speakers are:
• Arthur Hansen, professor emeritus of CSU Fullerton, consultant to the Japanese American National Museum, and recipient of the Sue Embrey Kunitomi Award;
• Takako Day, author of “Show Me the Way to Go Home,” who interviewed Kibei-Nisei resisters, some of whom repatriated to Japan after release from Tule Lake;
• Yukio Kawaratani, Tule Lake inmate and former Community Redevelopment Agency planner for the redevelopment of Downtown Los Angeles.
The presentations will be followed by a question-and-answer segment.
The Tule Lake internment camp initially housed approximately 10,000 Japanese Americans. After the so-called loyalty questionnaire was circulated, internees perceived by the War Relocation Authority to be of questionable loyalty were segregated at Tule Lake, resulting in a population explosion to well over 18,000 inhabitants.
The informational forum will discuss who some of the inmates were and how they were victimized by the government and later stigmatized by the Japanese American community.
For directions or more information, contact Nancy Oda at (818) 935-2603 or nancyoda@gmail.com.