This kind of archival and historical resource makes my heart sing. Densho started as a nonprofit in 1996, “with the initial goal of documenting oral histories from Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. This evolved into a mission to educate, preserve, collaborate and inspire action for equity.” The folks at Densho are collecting stories that would not have been captured and preserved for future generations (and current generation) to learn from.
To me this is an example of historical events that have a direct correlation to things happening today. We get a chance to learn from what occurred before, how they survived, how they were impacted and how, if we don’t make collective changes as a culture, it will absolutely happen again. And again.
The Densho website is dense with stories, knowledge and ways to access information. Their Collections and Research page alone is utterly engaging. I am not sure where to start diving in.
Digital Repository? Yes please - online and searchable access to images, documents, oral histories. You can Browse or Search the database then filter your results. Barely digging in I found an article I want to read: “Church Sermon Attacks Racism” This is from a 1943 edition of the Gila News-Courier. I am always curious to see how people were talking about racism at different times in this country’s history. How is it the same or different and what can we learn?
And that is just one part of the Collections and Research page. Other areas to explore are the Oral History, Historical Materials, Family History and Genealogy, Encyclopedia, Names Registry and what I think is the most moving and important area, the aptly named Sites of Shame (an interactive map, timeline and site locator that “allows users to explore the national network of WWII-era detention centers”).
I am not even touching on the work Densho is doing regarding promoting equity today (“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Join us in putting the lessons of Japanese American WWII incarceration into action today.”)
It is not only an incredible opportunity to learn from the people who experienced it and their descendants, it is a gift for those of us who want to do all we can to prevent similar or “rhyming” events to happen again. We can not forget and this organization and its online resources will helps us remember.
Very interesting!