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April 2016 Art of Survival: Japanese Americans Coping in World War II Internment Camps By Jody Morgan
Now through May 15th, the Museum of the San Ramon Valley (MuseSRV) presents Art of Survival, a poignant study of the plight of Japanese Americans incarcerated in remote confinement sites during World War II. Building on a traveling exhibit focused on Tule Lake, the Museum incorporates information about life in all ten internment camps. Intricate artifacts crafted in the camps, photographs, videos, and personal histories, as well as the recreation of a barrack living space enhance the exhibit. Learn how internees confronted deprivation with dignity. Several evening programs highlight different aspects of their experience. April 14th - 7pm, Veterans Memorial Building, Danville: “Baseball and its Impact onAmerica During World War II” - Baseball historians Marty Laurie and Kerry Yo Nakagawa discuss the role of baseball inside the camps. April 21st - 7pm, Danville Town Meeting Hall: “Hidden Legacy” - Shirley Murat-Wong presents cultural arts practiced in the camps. May 6th - 7pm, Danville Library: “Survive with Dignity” - Celebrating music, poetry, film, and life in the camps. Fear and anger fueled by politicians hawking hidden enemy agendas and journalists headlining hate set residents of the West Coast on edge in the aftermath of the December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. Japanese American university professors, religious leaders, community leaders, and even retired Dan Dunn and Jerry Warren stand behind a table businessmen along with fisherman of typical of furniture internees made from scrap wood. Japanese descent who could conceivably Photo by Jody Morgan. signal enemy ships were immediately taken into custody. Devices seized from potential saboteurs included cameras, binoculars, short-wave radios, dynamite farmers used to remove stumps from fields, and a cache of weapons later conceded to have been merchandise from a sporting goods store. Under the military command of Lieutenant Delos Emmons, Hawaii detained about 1% of its 150,000 JapaneseAmerican residents. But despite J. Edgar Hoover’s assurance that all potential mainland suspects had been arrested, General John L. DeWitt, engaged as head of Western Defense Command on December 11, 1941, insisted everyone with at least 1/16th Japanese genes - infants to infirm elderly individuals - posed an immediate danger to national security. CaliforniaAttorney General and gubernatorial hopeful Earl Warren testified before the Tolan Committee (a US House Select Committee): “I believe we are just being lulled into a false sense of security and that the only reason we haven’t had a disaster in California is because it has been timed for a different date, and that when that time comes if we don’t do something about it, it is going to mean disaster both to California and to our Nation.” Journalists encouraged the public to accept the flawed logic that because no acts of sabotage had occurred on the West Coast, those acts were bound to happen as a coordinated offensive at a future date. Hearst newspaper columnist Henry McLemore wrote: “I am for the immediate removal of every Japanese on the West Coast to a point deep in the interior. I don’t mean a nice part of the interior either. Herd up, pack ‘em off and give ‘em the inside room in the badlands …” On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 establishing a legal basis for the subsequent evacuation of all Japanese Americans from the West Coast as a military necessity. Voluntary relocation to other parts of the country saved a few thousand from the mandatory detention that followed. On May 21, 1942 a San Francisco Chronicle headline read: “S.F. Clear of All But 6 Sick Japs.” “I have come to appreciate in putting together this exhibit how much of a sense of loss people felt,” Jerry Warren, Vice-President of the MuseSRV Board remarks. “Teenagers and young adults born in America were ripped out of their familiar space where they
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The Afterglow fundraiser in conjunction with the May 14 performance of Rhythms invites attendees to dine on the Tao House property and stroll in the O'Neill courtyard. Photo by Jody Morgan.
O’Neill: The Rhythms of His Soul: A Musical Revue at Tao House By Jody Morgan
Based on The Eugene O’Neill Songbook compiled by Travis Bogard, O’Neill: The Rhythms of His Soul is a lively musical revue presenting a fresh perspective on themes that resonate throughout the playwright’s scripts. Performances on April 30 (8pm), May 1 (2pm), May 14 (8pm) and May 15 (2pm) in the Old Barn at Tao House put audiences in close contact with performers as the rough-hewn rafters rock to the sounds of the music referenced in the 51 published plays of four-time Pulitzer Prize winner and Nobel laureate O’Neill. On May 14th, Afterglow, a fundraiser featuring pre-performance al fresco dining at Tao House, invites patrons to support the many projects of the Eugene O’Neill Foundation (EOF), which in partnership with the National Park Service preserves the playwright’s artistic legacy as well as his Danville home. Bogard, a UC Berkeley Professor of Dramatic Arts and world-renowned O’Neill scholar, was instrumental in saving Tao House from demolition and served as the first EOF Artistic Director. Daniel Cawthon was present at the party held to celebrate the 1993 release of the O’Neill Songbook. He recalls
Beloved Alamo Richards Store Closing
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Succumbing to competition from online sales, increased parking pressures in the Alamo Plaza, and finally the December 2015 sale of the Plaza to new owners, re s u l t i n g i n a l a rg e increase in property taxes and insurance passed on to tenants, the 33 year old Richards Arts and Crafts store in Alamo will be closing. “We have loved being such a big part of our customers’ lives,” Dick noted during a recent interview. “Our employees are like a big family,” he said. Dick and Terri are sparing no effort to find new jobs for their employees, most of whom have been with their company for many years. In recognition of his many contributions to the community, Dick Delfosse was honored in February by the Danville Area Chamber of Commerce as Business Person of the Year. Around 150 people gathered for the award ceremony, at which Chamber President Shelley Despotakis stated “Dick is the consummate businessman…He owns and operates one of the most recognizable businesses in our community. In the past 33 years, under his leadership, his business has supported the community in every need that they have had. Dick has a heart of gold, and we are thrilled to honor him.”
Dick and Terri Delfosse Volume VII - Number 6 3000F Danville Blvd. #117, Alamo, CA 94507 (925) 405-6397 Fax (925) 406-0547 Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher editor@ yourmonthlypaper.com The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and do not necessarily reflect that of Danville Today News. Danville Today News is not responsible for the content of any of the advertising herein, nor does publication imply endorsement.