Muslim Educational Trust to Host Exhibit on Japanese Internment

The Muslim Educational Trust will host a traveling exhibit, “Architecture of Internment: The Build Up to Wartime Incarceration” highlighting the rule of Oregonians in the decision to incarcerate Japanese Americans. 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of them U.S. citizens, were incarcerated during World War II.

The exhibit will open with a reception at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11 at Muslim Educational Trust, 10330 SW Scholls Ferry Road, Tigard. Light refreshments will be served. The exhibit will be on display through Oct. 14. Please contact Rania Ayoub for group reservations by calling (503) 579-6621 or emailing rania@metpdx.org.

The exhibit includes:

• Personal letters and proclamations from Oregonians to Governor Sprague in 1941 and 1942, advocating for the exclusion and incarceration of Oregonian Japanese Americans.
• The Oregon Governor’s response to these letters and proclamations revealing his changing position under political and social pressure.
• Blueprints of potential “Assembly Center” and “Relocation Camp” locations such as race tracks and fairgrounds.
• Letters from Japanese Americans expressing outrage about the injustice.

Scheduled exhibit locations range from the Oregon Historical Society, APANO, the annual Oregon farmworker convention at PCUN and the Muslim Educational Trust to a rural tour with Rural Organizing Project throughout Oregon. The exhibit is sponsored by Muslim Educational Trust, Oregon Nikkei Endowment, Portland Japanese American Citizens League and Graham Street Productions.

The exhibit is available for use in Oregon and around the country. For more information, contact info(at)grahamstreetproductions.com