Tule Lake Segregation Center Designated a National Historic Landmark
Nichi Bei Times Weekly
Feb. 23 - March 1, 2006
By BARBARA TAKEI
Two days before Feb. 19, the anniversary date of Executive Order 9066 -- that led to the World War II-era removal and incarceration of 110,000 persons of Japanese ancestry -- Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton made it official. Tule Lake, the largest and most controversial of the 10 War Relocation Authority camps used to carry out the government's system of exclusion and detention on the basis of race, was designated as a National Historic Landmark. "On the weekend of the Day of Remembrance, I am pleased to designate Tule Lake as a National Historic Landmark so that all might learn of the significance of the site," Norton said in a statement.
"National Historic Landmarks demonstrate for current and future generations America's diverse heritage, both cultural and architectural," Norton added. "They show us, as a nation, where we have been and help guide us to where we want to go."
The Tule Lake designation comes one week after Secretary Norton designated another, similar facility, the Granada Relocation Center in Colorado. The Tule Lake site is located in Newell, Calif., about a dozen miles from the Oregon border.
The National Historic Landmark designation is the highest such recognition accorded by the nation to historic properties. Landmark designation honors sites where significant historical events occurred or where prominent Americans worked or lived, and represent the ideas that shaped our nation.
Fewer than 2,500 historic places carry the title of National Historic Landmark.
"We've waited a long time for this day to happen," said Jimi Yamaichi, the 83-year-old advocate and spokesman for the Tule Lake preservation effort. "And, we are honored that Secretary Norton chose the Day of Remembrance observation to recognize Tule Lake Segregation Center as a National Historic Landmark."
Yamaichi, along with members of the Tule Lake Committee that organizes bi-annual pilgrimages to the concentration camp site, spent much of the previous decade working to ensure that Tule Lake would not be forgotten.
A former construction supervisor at the Tule Lake site during WWII, San Jose resident Yamaichi has volunteered countless hours, consulting with historic preservationists, speaking about Tule Lake and the wartime incarceration to student and community groups, and leading walking tours of the site.
"This is great news and important validation for Tule Lake," said chair of the Tule Lake Committee and preservation committee member, Hiroshi Shimizu, who was a toddler while incarcerated at Tule Lake with his parents. "Landmark status is what we have been working toward all these years, and it is hard to believe we are finally there."
Shimizu, a resident of San Francisco, has been a mainstay of the ad-hoc, all-volunteer Tule Lake Committee that has organized pilgrimages to the Tule Lake site since the early 1970s. The bi-annual pilgrimage has evolved into an intense three-day program in Klamath Falls that includes camp site visits, workshops, and culminates in a cultural performance.
"This year's pilgrimage (July 1-4, 2006) will be especially terrific, given the opportunity to celebrate the Landmark designation and to thank all those who helped to make it happen," says Shimizu.
Shimizu anticipates a ceremony celebrating Tule Lake's Landmark status to be held July 3, 2006 at the Ross Ragland Theatre in Klamath Falls, Ore.
Following the Tule Lake pilgrimage in July 2000, the Tule Lake Committee began meeting with representatives of the National Park Service, California State Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, historic preservation organizations and federal and state legislators, to advocate for preservation of the site. The goal of our preservation effort was to ensure that Tule Lake would be remembered for its historic importance and given stature as a National Landmark," said Pat Shiono, who chairs the preservation group and spearheads the fundraising effort to preserve the site.
"Now that we have gained Landmark status," says Shiono, "it's time for the next stage ˜ building community support and raising the funds to preserve the structures." Remembering the history of what went on in the high-security Segregation Center is important, says Shiono.
"It was a very dark part of our history, and we hope that no other individuals will be stripped of their rights the way people in Tule Lake were," said Shiono. "This must never happen again."