Community Corner
Plans Unveiled for Japanese-American Memorial Marker
Venice residents plan to honor Japanese-Americans interned during WWII with a marker at Lincoln and Venice boulevards.
On Monday, residents and politicians gathered to unveil plans for a Venice Japanese-American Memorial Marker at the northwest corner of Lincoln and Venice boulevards, where Japanese-Americans during WWII boarded buses for internment camps.
On April 25, 1942, more than a thousand Japanese-American men, women and children living in Venice, Santa Monica and Malibu were ordered to report to the Civil Control Station at 933½ Venice Blvd. They spent the next three years at the Manzanar War Relocation Authority Camp near Lone Pine, CA. The proposed memorial, which will stand slightly under 5 feet tall, will serve to "remind us to be forever vigilant about defending our constitutional rights."
“Never again should an American be pulled out of their home, their possessions taken, and put on a bus to a concentration camp,” Councilman Bill Rosendahl told the the crowd.
In April 2009, Venice High student Scott Pine read an article in the Free Venice Beachhead supporting a memorial marker. Pine brought the article into his history class for a current events discussion, and the class members all ended up writing letters to the councilman, who introduced a bill supporting the memorial to the City Council in 2010 after the Venice Neighborhood Council gave its support. More support followed from the Public Works Committee, State Assemblywoman Betsy Butler and State Sen. Ted Lieu. The memorial still needs approval from the Coastal Commission.
Jim Smith of the Free Venice Beachhead emphasized “how precious civil liberties are and how horrendous the consequences for their failure.” He said that Americans must not forget the lessons of Manzanar, especially in times of fear when civil liberties are often threatened. As an example, he mentioned post-9/11 when some Americans were calling for the roundup of Muslims.
Former Manzanar internee and Mar Vista resident Arnold Maeda shared his account of departing for the camp as a child. He was most upset that he had to leave behind his German shepherd. Families were limited to one suitcase of belongings. Upon arrival each person was given a big cotton bag and told to fill it with straw. It was their mattress, Maeda said. For the last 53 years, every time Maeda has passed the historic corner he has filled with rage, he said. However, after the plans for a memorial marker started to take root, he said his outlook shifted.
“My negative feelings are replaced by hope,” Maeda said.
Maeda's younger brother, Brian Maeda, who was born at Manzanar, organizes tours of the camp the last weekend in April every year. The next one is April 30. The cost is $40. For more information about the 42nd Annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, click here. To donate to the Venice Japanese American Memorial Marker, contact the Venice Arts Council at info@veniceartscouncil.org.
The memorial was designed by Emily Winters of the Venice Arts Council, with input from a committee she formed with Phyllis Hayashibara, a Venice High history teacher. The committee included former Manzanar internees as well as other Venice residents.
