Wednesday, June 24, 2015

February 19th and 20th. Bainbridge Island, Washington

On the 19th, we visited the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum
This tour was totally unexpected as I really did not have any indepth knowledge of what these Americans had endured.  Certainly I knew about it but never understood how horrible it was for them and  just how segregated they were.  
What was suppose to protect both groups ended up hurting all.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/bainbridge-island-historical-museum-bainbridge-island

Exhibit~Japanese Americans on Bainbridge Island 
“We had about one week to dispose of what we owned, except what we could pack and carry for our departure by bus…for Manzanar.” William Hohri

~ The Presidential Order ~
"...In February, 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the Secretary of War to establish Military Areas and to remove from those areas anyone who might threaten the war effort. Without due process, the government gave everyone of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast only days to decide what to do with their houses, farms, businesses, and other possessions. Most families sold their belongings at a significant loss. Some rented their properties to neighbors. Others left possessions with friends or religious groups. Some abandoned their property. They did not know where they were going or for how long. Each family was assigned an identification number and loaded into cars, buses, trucks, and trains, taking only what they could carry. Japanese Americans were transported under military guard to 17 temporary assembly centers located at racetracks, fairgrounds, and similar facilities in Washington, Oregon, California, and Arizona. Then they were moved to one of 10 hastily built relocation centers. By November, 1942, the relocation was complete....."
 http://www.nps.gov/manz/learn/historyculture/japanese-americans-at-manzanar.htm

Bainbridge Island Japanese American Community
In 1942 Bainbridge Island, just across Puget Sound from Seattle, was home to approximately 250 Japanese farmers and fisherfolk. On March 24, Lt. General DeWitt, the West Coast commander U.S. Army, issued Civilian Exclusion Order No. 1, ordering the evacuation of all Japanese Americans on the island. This first evacuation became a model for the evacuation of all Japanese Americans from the West Coast."
http://www.lib.washington.edu/exhibits/harmony/Exhibit/bainbridge.html
http://www.bijac.org/


BeautifuL example of the lovely
styleworn by the
Japanese Americans women
Walt and Milly Woodward
of the Bainbridge Reivew

The Review was the only newpaper to use its editorials to consistently speak out against the exclusion and internment ofJapanese Americans.  You can read more about this this amazing couple in a book called
~IN DEFENSE OF OUR NEIGHBORS.  THE WALT AND MILLY WOODWARD STORY ~
http://www.bijac.org/index.php?p=OralHistoryOH0080http://smithsonianapa.org/bookdragon/in-defense-of-our-neighbors-the-walt-and-milly-woodward-story-by-mary-woodward-foreword-by-david-guterson/
ANSEL ADAMS
Ansel Adams documented the beauty in the horror of this period. His photographs depecting this sad time in our history can be seen in the following books

http://bainbridgehistory.org/ansel-adams-portrait-of-manzanar/



After the emotional visit through the past, we decided to take a coffee break before going to visit the Memorial where these Americans boarded a boat that would taken them on their journey to their temporary home in Manzanar.

On our way to Nidoto Nai Yani, the site of deportation, we passed this beautiful view of the Bainbridge Ferrys


NidotoNai Honi  ~~~~ Let It Not Happen Again


Maria showing the tag each person had to wear and John pointing to where they 
walked down the dock to the boat taking them away from their homes.







"On May 8, President Bush signed into law Senate Bill 2739, the Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008, which expanded the boundaries of the Minidoka Internment National Monument to include the Nidoto Nai Yoni Memorial commemorating the Japanese Americans of Bainbridge Island, Washington, who were the first to be forcibly removed from their homes and imprisoned in American concentration camps during World War II."
 http://blog.manzanarcommittee.org/2008/05/23/manzanar-committee-hails-passage-of-bill-to-expand-minidoka-internment-national-monument/#more-42

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To say the least, I was not too crazy about the outdoor decoration at the home on the right.  





~~~ Halls Hill Labyrinth ~~~
The link below goes in to depth about the meaning of this beautiful labyrinth better than 
I could possible describe.  I very much apprecaited that Maira brought us to this beautiful quite
garden on near Rockaway Beach over looking Puget Sound.  

"The Hall’s Hill Labyrinth exemplifies the traditional purpose and symbology of a labyrinth (not a maze) as a kind of spiritual and imaginative journey moving on a circuitous path to the center of the self and back into the world again, connecting us with natural and cosmic energies. Created by artist Jeffrey Bale, the Hall’s Hill Labyrinth is a powerfully energetic work of art, layered with meaning, permeated with intelligence and love, founded on vision and hard physical work, and blessed with ineffable “being.”

"Bale estimates he collected some 25,000 pounds of rocks for the labyrinth from Bainbridge Island beaches, poring over shorelines for the rights shapes, sizes, and colors, mindful not to disturb beach creatures in the process..... He collected the majority of stones from nearby Rockaway Beach, which has a wide variety of rock dumped from lumber vessels that used rock from far and wide as ballast."
 http://www.insidebainbridge.com/tag/halls-hill-labyrinth/



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On our last day on Bainbridge Island and visiting Maria and Jeff, we relaxed and enjoyed the sights of the island from our window before saying goodbye to such wonderful friends. 



A drawing of Maria's Wedding Dress that is such
a beautiful piece of art 
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Before leaving we all decided to take a 'formal' friends photograph....and we had fun taking other photos together also.  The 'friends' photo is on Maria's camera... posting to come!

Thank you so much for such a perfect visit.  
You guys are the best and we love you dearly!!!