Densho

Densho is a nonprofit organization that started in 1996 with the goal of collecting and sharing testimonies of Japanese Americans who were put in internment camps during World War II. Based on in Seattle, Washington, this organization helps preserve the memories of one of the ugliest episodes in American history, and provides context of the historical forces that influenced it. The site also reminds us of how far-reaching this is, and how it impacts the current Japanese-American community as well as other forms of racial targeting, such as Islamophobia.

After Pearl Harbor, Japan became not just an expanding world power, but officially an enemy of the United States. During times of war, civil liberties have historically been curtailed. But the U.S government took extreme measures when it moved the Japanese-American population on the West Coast to concentration camps (should be noted that these were different than concentration camps that were being used in Germany). The result was a physical separation of an ethnic group, the loss of their businesses and valuables, and the inescapable feeling that they were outsiders within their own nation. That’s where Densho comes in, as they capture the story and memory of a terrible time for the Japanese-American community. Densho gives a voice that fills the vacancy of political history. Standardized textbooks or novels paint a certain picture of World War II, and a lot of times the memories of those who were sent to camps are forgotten, That is Densho’s biggest reward in that it helps grow the collective memory. We all would like to think we remember tragedies forever, but unfortunately the lessons learned tend to fade away as if it was someone’s 5th birthday party. But through Densho’s online digital repository, you can find thousands of accounts of the people who went through this. It’s an impressive collection, but also somber in the sheer number of people who went through this. However, the stories of people is what drives historical sites and this one is no different. They have an option for families to submit their own records (whether photos, handwritten documents, tapes) and have them be preserved to an entire collection of people’s experience. This is one of the major reasons to embrace and learn history. When you can rely on shared experience of an event, it creates a much more powerful image. And unfortunately time works against it, as people can simply forget or deny an event happened if it happened too long ago without concrete evidence.

The other major function of Densho is developing a learning center. They actually have online courses where teachers can gain access to the thousands of sources available as well as the historical background. The goal, of course, is to correct a framework that has been bent a lot in the history of the United States, but through education it may be possible to more accurately depict events as they happened. It also serves as learning center for xenophobia and racism in general, currently working on an online course that takes the experience of Japanese Americans and relates them to other communities today. The site also keeps a blog that updates periodically and depends on donations from people who are invested in the site and what they have to offer.