INDEPENDENCE — The Manzanar National Historic Site will present “Voices of Bainbridge Island” on Friday, May 13, at 11 a.m.
The Japanese Americans of Bainbridge Island in Washington state were the first community removed by the U.S. Army under Executive Order 9066. They traveled under armed guard by train and bus to Manzanar, arriving at the unfinished camp on April 1, 1942.
All but five Bainbridge families transferred to the Minidoka camp in Idaho in February 1943.
The Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community (BIJAC) worked to create the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on the island. Today, the memorial is part of the National Park Service.
Join three Bainbridge Island community elders — Victor Takemoto, Matsue Nishimori Watanabe, and Frances Kitamoto Ikegami — as they share their stories.
Manzanar National Historic Site is located at 5001 Hwy. 395 between the towns of Lone Pine and Independence. For more information, call www.nps.gov/manz.