Irene Nakahara's story showcases the impact of Executive Order 9066 on Japanese Americans during WWII. Despite having a promising future in academia, her life took a drastic turn when her family was forcibly relocated to internment camps after the Pearl Harbor attack. The incarceration led to the destruction of homes and businesses, with personal losses estimated at $400 million. As a third-generation Japanese American, Nakahara later moved to Japan, where adapting proved challenging due to limited educational opportunities for women.
...if she had grown up and stayed in the United States, she could have gone into academia and lived a more independent life.
The law was passed in the aftermath of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, leading to racist fears of a security emergency, even though all but a handful of Americans of Japanese descent were peaceful.
Their homes were repossessed, their businesses were destroyed, and their personal property worth $400 million was taken over and never recovered.
The government sent Nakahara and her family to the Heart Mountain relocation center and the Tule Lake camp. There, families lived in animal barracks without heating surrounded by barbed wire.
Collection
[
|
...
]