Crafts from the Internment Camps Story aired: Thursday, December 08, 2005
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, not only did the United States enter World War II, but a nightmare began for thousands of Japanese- Americans living on the West Coast. Within 48 hours, the FBI arrested some 3,000 first generation Japanese men who based solely on their ancestry had been classified as "dangerous enemy aliens." With a few months, some 120,000 Japanese-Americans -- two thirds of whom were U.S. citizens -- were made to evacuate their homes and move into internment camps.
But though they were forced to give up most of their possessions, many Japanese-Americans were still able to add some beauty to their lives. From what they found around them in the camps, arts and crafts were born. Writer Delphine Hirasuna has published a collection of images of this art in her new book "The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps 1942-1946."
