Amache National Historic Site

Amache National Historic Site was one of ten incarceration sites established by the War Relocation Authority during World War II to which Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated. Over 7,000 people, mostly American citizens, were interred at Amache from 1942 to 1945. Also known as the Granada Relocation Center, this site had the smallest population of the ten centers but became the tenth largest concentration of people in Colorado.

Amache has been authorized as a unit of the National Park Service but is still in the planning process and is not yet an official unit. The preservation of Amache has been spearheaded by the Amache Preservation Society, a grassroots organization established by a social studies teacher at Granada High School and consisting of student volunteers.

That teacher, John Hopper, opened the museum that he helped create and gave an insightful tour to our group. The museum collection is quite impressive and consists of items donated by individuals who had been incarcerated at Amache, as well as items recovered during archeological excavations. Exhibits explain the background and what Japanese Americans faced when they were removed from their homes, packing only what they could carry. Life at Amache is a main feature, as is the art produced by incarcerees.

An Introduction to Amache

Daily Life Behind the Fence

Art at Amache

One of our members asked if the collection would be donated to the National Park Service, and I was disheartened by John’s answer. He stated that the intention was to transfer the collection, but when he was informed that most of it would be housed in a museum storage facility elsewhere, he said “no.” He didn’t want to have to explain to Mrs. Sakamoto that the items she donated were not on display at the museum.

Unfortunately, I can understand John’s position. The National Park Service is only able to exhibit a miniscule portion of the items in its museum collections. Most remain in storage. As Tim used to say when someone asked what he did, “I take care of the things than nobody gets to see.”

After our tour, we drove to the site and followed the self-guided driving and audio tour to learn about the 11 points of interest. Currently the Amache site consists of a historic cemetery, a monument, historic concrete building foundations, an intact road network, and several reconstructed and rehabilitated structures from the World War II camp-era including a barrack, a recreation hall, a guard tower, and a water tank.

Welcome to Amache National Historic Site

Points of Interest on the Amache Driving Tour

After finishing our tour, our group met for lunch at Shorty's Mexican Café back in Granada.

John Hopper Took a Photograph of Our Group

I have visited other Japanese incarceration sites, including Manzanar in California, and look forward to following the planning progress at Amache. Visiting sites like these produces mixed emotions and makes me think about freedom and justice, as well as the resilience of the Japanese Americans who were forced to suffer such injustice.

One thing struck me when I looked at the National Park Service website for Amache and then glanced at the Special Resource Study that determined the eligibility of Amache to be designated as a national park unit – the use of the term “incarceration.” I found the explanation in the Special Resource Study about the power, meaning, and significance of terminology so refreshing that I’m going to quote the first paragraph here:

It is important to accurately describe the history of the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II without perpetuating the euphemistic terms that the US government and others employed at the time or incorrect terms later substituted that do not adequately describe the injustice experienced by more than 120,000 people.

The report emphasizes that there has been support for using terms such as incarceration, imprisonment, and detention, and these are the terms that the National Park Service is now using. After reading this, I went back and edited this blog post to use the correct terminology. I am guessing that the existing waysides will be updated.

I still had a long drive ahead of me, so I hit the road for home. It was so nice to see Tim again. 

Although I love to travel overseas, there is something about a road trip in the United States that speaks to me. This road trip was sensational, enlightening, educational, and just plain fun. I can’t wait to plan the next one.