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Description
Roughly 10,000 Japanese Americans were sent to Manzanar War Relocation Center in eastern California, one of ten confinement camps set up in the wake of Executive Order 9066. Harry Y. Ueno was one of those sent to Manzanar War Relocation Center. Born in Hawaii, his parents sent him to their native Japan for education, after which he returned to the United States, this time to the mainland West Coast. He was living in Los Angeles when the orders came for Japanese Americans to leave. In Manzanar, he worked in the Block 22 mess hall, was central to the establishment of an ornamental garden there, and established a mess hall worker's union to bring grievances to the administration. Ueno was also accused of beating Fred Tayama, another Japanese American held in Manzanar who was informing the FBI on activities within Manzanar. Ueno's arrest sparked an uprising within Manzanar in which two people were shot and killed and others injured. Administrators removed Ueno from Manzanar and sent him to a number of other confinement facilities in Leupp, Arizona; Moab, Utah; and Tule Lake, California. He remained in California after departing Tule Lake. For decades after Manzanar War Relocation Center and the other confinement facilities closed, Ueno remained very quiet about his experiences there. During the 1960s and 70s, as public discussion about Japanese American removal emerged, Ueno began speaking about his Manzanar experiences, including as part of the movement for redress. He remains a significant and controversial figure in Manzanar's history. This recording was created by Ueno for a journalist writing on Ueno for the Los Angeles Japanese American paper The Rafu Shimpo in the 1970s.Additional Descriptive Notes: Tape 1: 12-77, side 1: ?-10:45, side 2: 10:45-11:45 Howard High Tape 2: 12-77, side [1]: 10:45-11:45 [to 70], side [2]: 9:45-12:45 Tape 3: 12-77, side 1: 12:45-1:45, Ueno's notes of the Dec. 6 incident, side 2: 1:45-2:45 Tape 4: 8/3/79 side 1: 9:45-10:30 Tape 5: 8/3/79 Tape 6: Aug 7, 1981 Answer to Ms. Tachibana from Harry Ueno
Manzanar War Relocation Center Ueno, Harry Y. (Harry Yoshio), 1907-
Provenance
Manzanar National Historic Site California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
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