Header image "Japanese American Children Pledging Allegiance 1942" courtesy of Mali
About the Exhibit
This exhibit aims to examine the figure of the child within the context of life before, during and after Japanese American internment by examining the effects of different school systems (i.e. public schools, internment camp schools, and church-run schools) on the identity formation of Japanese American children during this time period.
The texts curated in this exhibit were selected from the Densho Digital Archive for their relation to the figure of the
child in the context of Japanese American internment and WWII education. All texts in the archive are viewable to the public without an account by selecting the option "Click to use Guest Account" on the main page. Additionally, we also used sources from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress.
child in the context of Japanese American internment and WWII education. All texts in the archive are viewable to the public without an account by selecting the option "Click to use Guest Account" on the main page. Additionally, we also used sources from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration and the Library of Congress.
About the Authors
The curators of this digital exhibit are four students in Dr. Mandy Suhr-Sytsma's Fall 2014 course ENG 389W: The Figure of the Child in Multiethnic American Literature & Activism at Emory University. See below for our individual analyses and to learn more about us.
Individual Analyses
The individual analyses each take an angle on education, Japanese Internment camps, and the formation of children's identities.
How the Individual Analyses Relate
As the title of our website suggests, our individual exhibits are related under the overarching theme of education-influenced identity formation of Japanese-American children in the World War II Era. We not only look at this topic before, during, and after Japanese internment, but also through examples of government influences, public schools, camp schools, and church-run schools. More specifically, we discuss the delicate balance between individual children’s ethnic identities and the Americanization process they experienced. In turn, we show a whole spectrum of how children responded with respect to their identity formations. Chmara St. Julien and Kylie Baker both incorporate in their exhibits how racism and perpetual foreignness can create confusion towards how children regarded their ethnicity. Ainee Jeong and Nancy Chung illustrate how an Americanized environment could lead to different levels of performativity in both citizenship and race. Through discussing these points, we have created a website that is comprehensive and gives insight into our selected topic.
About the Densho Archive
The Densho Digital Archive is a collection of memories recalling life before, during, and after Japanese American Internment, preserved through various forms of texts, photographs, and videos.
Invitation for Additional Research
Cumulatively, our research and analyses have focused on how education—whether before, during, or after internment—affected the Japanese American child’s identity formation. More specifically, we have delved into the various forms of American public education: inside and outside the camps, government-mandated and church-run, culturally inclusive and racially exclusive.
We invite viewers of our exhibit to engage in further discourse about the many faces of education in the United States, historically and contemporarily. The texts we explored and examined in our research have many counterparts such as the works of the Harlem Renaissance and the American Indians during their relocation. Research concerning education’s influence on the identity formation of the child in these various eras and among diverse groups would serve as a valuable addendum to our research here.
Our research could also be built upon with the considerations of how American education interacts with multiculturalism. We invite our viewers to inquire about what “multicultural education” may have looked like throughout American history in comparison to how it is defined and delivered today. Furthermore, valuable research could be conducted about how the American education system responds to social constructs. With our discussions about perpetuated alienation, racial discrimination and falsehood tied to performative citizenship, additional research on how American education continues or perhaps combats to social inequality and injustice could bring more color and depth to our study.
We invite viewers of our exhibit to engage in further discourse about the many faces of education in the United States, historically and contemporarily. The texts we explored and examined in our research have many counterparts such as the works of the Harlem Renaissance and the American Indians during their relocation. Research concerning education’s influence on the identity formation of the child in these various eras and among diverse groups would serve as a valuable addendum to our research here.
Our research could also be built upon with the considerations of how American education interacts with multiculturalism. We invite our viewers to inquire about what “multicultural education” may have looked like throughout American history in comparison to how it is defined and delivered today. Furthermore, valuable research could be conducted about how the American education system responds to social constructs. With our discussions about perpetuated alienation, racial discrimination and falsehood tied to performative citizenship, additional research on how American education continues or perhaps combats to social inequality and injustice could bring more color and depth to our study.