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Manzanar was an internment camp in California where Japanese-Americans and foreign residents of Japan were imprisoned during WWII. It is now a National Historic Site, maintained by the National Parks Service. The site was settled by Native Americans before being leased by the US Army in 1942. Life in the camp was difficult, with extreme weather conditions and isolation from the surrounding community. Manzanar closed in 1945, but has been preserved and rebuilt for visitors to learn about its history. Ralph Lazo, a Mexican-American and Irish descent, protested against the camps by living in Manzanar with his friends.
Manzanar is a site in California’s Owens Valley where approximately 11,000 Japanese-Americans and foreign residents of Japan were imprisoned during World War II. Manzanar was one of 10 internment camps used during WWII, but it has become the most famous, thanks to the fact that it has housed an assortment of famous residents, and has been remarkably well preserved compared to other camps. As of 1972, Manzanar is a California Historical Landmark and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1985. Today, Manzanar is maintained by the National Parks Service as the Manzanar National Historic Site.
The site was initially settled by Native Americans, centuries before miners and ranchers moved in in the 1800s. In the early 1900s, the city of Los Angeles began acquiring water rights to Owens Valley, concerned with providing water for the growing city , and by 1929, Manzanar (which is Spanish for “apple orchard”) had been largely abandoned. In 1942, the United States Army leased the site from the city so it could be used as an internment camp.
Like all Japanese internment camps in the United States, Manzanar was hastily built and housed huge numbers of people who had been forcibly displaced from their homes, friends and businesses. The camp was expected to be self-sufficient, so prisoners gardened, worked in various workshops, and sometimes rented out to the neighboring community.
Life in Manzanar wasn’t necessarily brutal, but it wasn’t pleasant either. Temperature conditions in the Owens Valley can be quite extreme and people have struggled with both the heat and the severe cold, living in poorly insulated and dusty tar paper shacks. While Manzanar had a high school, sporting events, and entertainment, the camp was isolated from the surrounding community, and prisoners were constantly reminded of their status by watchtowers, patrols, and other measures designed to keep them contained. There was also friction in the field between the various generations and between native Japanese and Japanese Americans.
Manzanar closed in 1945, leaving many prisoners with nowhere to go. Over time, Manzanar’s buildings were slowly torn down, until all that remained were a series of guard posts, along with foundations and the faint footprints of roads and sewers around the camp. When Manzanar was designated a landmark, the National Parks Service rebuilt several structures, including a watchtower, so visitors could get a sense of what Manzanar was like.
Visitors to Manaznar today can see a number of artifacts, along with field writings of people who were interned there. Many people return for an annual Manzanar pilgrimage, an event that commemorates the history of the camp and the people who have been interned there, and some people leave offerings such as origami, artwork and food at the camp memorial.
One of Manzanar’s many famous occupants really stands out. Sixteen-year-old Ralph Lazo, a boy of Mexican-American and Irish descent, insisted on going to Manzanar in 16 with his friends when he learned of the forced relocation of the Japanese-Americans. He found the idea of the internment camps utterly repugnant and chose to live in Manzanar with his friends as a courageous act of protest, as well as speaking out vehemently against the camps. He went on to serve with distinction in the United States Army.
