Class
Article
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Department
School of Teacher Education and Leadership
Faculty Mentor
Sherry Marx
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
The United States government’s own website refers to internment camps such as Topaz as one of the country’s worst violations of the civil rights of citizens. People of Japanese heritage living on the West Coast, U.S. citizens or not, were incarcerated during World War II in 14 camps built in remote locations. This study explores what digital archive materials from Topaz reveal about this place through the words of the people who lived there. The study uses grounded theory methods to observe relationships, patterns, and trends in the data. General categories of analysis include physical attributes and purposes, cultural characteristics and human relationships, and emotions related to place. Considering the findings in the context of space/place theory, there is a strong connection with Butler’s and Sinclair’s (2020) location, locale, and sense of place framework. Camp residents frequently commented on the location both in terms of the barren strangeness and as a place of constructed utility. They most often described the locale or relationships by their camp roles, and sense of place was described by qualities of resilience and patriotism. Justice requires continued scrutiny of the place Topaz and how it reshaped the lives of those imprisoned there.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-11-2023 2:30 PM
End Date
4-11-2023 3:30 PM
Included in
Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education Commons, Prison Education and Reentry Commons
Arriving in a Strange Place: Japanese Americans Write About Incarcerated Life at Topaz
Logan, UT
The United States government’s own website refers to internment camps such as Topaz as one of the country’s worst violations of the civil rights of citizens. People of Japanese heritage living on the West Coast, U.S. citizens or not, were incarcerated during World War II in 14 camps built in remote locations. This study explores what digital archive materials from Topaz reveal about this place through the words of the people who lived there. The study uses grounded theory methods to observe relationships, patterns, and trends in the data. General categories of analysis include physical attributes and purposes, cultural characteristics and human relationships, and emotions related to place. Considering the findings in the context of space/place theory, there is a strong connection with Butler’s and Sinclair’s (2020) location, locale, and sense of place framework. Camp residents frequently commented on the location both in terms of the barren strangeness and as a place of constructed utility. They most often described the locale or relationships by their camp roles, and sense of place was described by qualities of resilience and patriotism. Justice requires continued scrutiny of the place Topaz and how it reshaped the lives of those imprisoned there.