“Locked up in prison, surrounded by barbed wire.”
That’s how Morton Grove storyteller Anne Shimojima described her parents’ and grandparents’ experiences in World War II internment camps. With photos from her family and the National Archives, the retired educator turned storyteller and workshop presenter gave “Hidden Memory: An American Story” Tuesday, April 1, at Lincoln Inn Banquets in Batavia. She was guest speaker at the Aurora Area Retired Teachers Association bimonthly membership luncheon.
Shimojima recounted how during World War II, the U.S. forcibly relocated and incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese descent, about two thirds U.S. citizens, in 10 concentration camps. Internees were not afforded due process of law.
According to Shimojima, her relatives and other internees were prohibited from taking more than they could carry into the camps. Many internees were given two weeks to sell some or all of their property, including their homes and businesses, at great losses. With overcrowded barracks with minimal furnishings, the camps were surrounded by barbed wire and patrolled by armed guards.
Dec. 17, 1944, a U.S. Supreme Court decision rescinded the exclusion orders and nine of the 10 camps were shut down by the end of 1945. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, which officially apologized and authorized a payment of $20,000 to each former detainee who was still alive when the act was passed. The legislation admitted that the government’s actions were based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.”
A professional storyteller since 1982, Shimojima said “Hidden Memory” developed out of her decision to create a photo book about the incarceration camps. In 2005, she interviewed her 91-year-old aunt about her experiences in a camp. From this, she developed her family story, which Shimojima presents with photos from her family and the National Archives.
A third generation Japanese American, she was born and raised in Chicago. An award-winning elementary school library media specialist of 35 years, she first discovered the power of story with her students, using storytelling to enrich and expand the curriculum and develop a deep emotional connection with her listeners.
—Al Benson