Draft:Topaz Museum

• Comment: In large part unreferenced, and the sources cited are not sufficient to establish notability. I would therefore recommend that all the sources used are cited as references, rather than merely listing some of them at the end. DoubleGrazing (talk) 07:56, 4 December 2023 (UTC)

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Introduction

The Topaz Museum is a museum in Delta, Utah, dedicated to preserving the memory of the Topaz War Relocation Center. The museum opened in 2017.

Statement of Notability

The Topaz Museum explores and maintains the memory of the Topaz War Relocation Center, which was a concentration camp during the Japanese American incarceration period of 1942-1945. The museum holds many significant artifacts and photos of the time, and an extensive archive of prisoner memos, photographs, and art. The museum is distinct from the camp itself as it is a remembrance and educational facility.

Background

On February 14, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9044, which gave the War Relocation Administration (WRA) unprecedented, broad power to address the “enemy alien problem”. Later that year, the Topaz War Relocation Center was opened in the desert surrounding Delta, Utah. With a peak population of 8,130 inmates, Topaz was among the largest population centers in the State of Utah.

In the winter of 1942-1943, a loyalty questionnaire was sent out. Prisoners were asked about their loyalty to the United States, to the government, and whether they would object to being drafted into combat duties in the war. Those deemed “subversive” or “disloyal” were transferred to Tule Lake Segregation Camp.

Topaz was notable for three major incidents. In the spring of 1943, Issei inmate James Hatsuaki Wakasa was fatally shot by a sentry, walking his dog near the fence. Large scale demonstrations followed, and the military decided that soldiers who had served in the Pacific would not be assigned guard duty in the internment system. Topaz was also notable as the camp in which Frank Korematsu and Mitsuye Endo were held. Korematsu and Endo filed legal challenges to Executive Order 9066. Korematsu’s case, Korematsu vs United States (1944) ended in defeat; Endo’s case, Ex Parte Endo, was decided in her favor, but nullified by President Roosevelt’s Public Proclamation 21, which authorized the termination of relocation programs.

The Topaz Museum was founded in 2017 by Delta schoolteacher Jane Beckwith and a Museum Board. The Museum aims to preserve the site, as well as educate visitors on the history of the camp, and hopefully to prevent another such injustice from being committed.

Museum Exhibits, Art, and Artifacts

The Topaz Museum has a variety of exhibits that showcase different art pieces and artifacts. Many of these artifacts were made at the camp and specifically the Topaz Art School. Things that are showcased are anywhere from paintings of the camp to jewelry to personal belongings of some of those that lived at the camp. The most significant artifact owned by the Museum is the actual camp site. The Topaz Museum website says this about the camp site. “The Topaz Museum Board owns 634 acres of the site, which has mostly remained undisturbed since that camp was dismantled”. The Topaz Museum showcases these artifacts and art on its website but you can also see them in person at the museum. The camp site still has roads as well as the foundations of mess halls and latrines. The museum asks that if you do visit to not remove any of the artifacts. The museum also has a restored recreation hall which has bedding and barracks that were exactly used during the incarceration to provide visitors an authentic experience of life at Topaz.

Art in the Topaz Camp

Documenting Through Art

Possession of cameras was forbidden for individuals living in the camps; they could not record photographic material. In the absence of owning cameras, Japanese Americans turned to painting/drawing to document personal life along with the living conditions in the camps, thus leading to manifestation of many artists like Mine Okubo from Topaz, and other artists in incarceration camps across the United States. Another reason why people turned to art in the camps was to cope and for emotional support during that time.

Topaz Art School

Chiura Obata founded the Topaz Art School in Tanforan, a former horse racetrack in California, where 8000 Japanese Americans were confined before the construction of Topaz. As a child, Obata learned Sumi-e, a traditional style of Japanese painting, which was the spark that fostered his love for art. He started the school to continue his passion during his stay in Tanforan. He also wanted to spread his passion and felt that he could aid others suffering during incarceration through his love for art. The school had over 600 students ranging in age from 6 to 70. Due to that, there were different levels of classes, from elementary to advanced courses. Sixteen teachers taught 95 lesson a week. There were 23 subjects offered, ranging from figure drawing to architectural drawing to commercial drawing to traditional Japanese art forms.

Artists in Topaz

A few of the many artists who lived and produced reputable works in the Topaz camp were Mine Okubo, Thomas Ryosaku Matsuoka, Edward I. Hashimoto, Chiura Obata, and Charles Erabu "Suiko" Mikami.

Public Reactions

The Topaz museum opened in 2017. Many viewed the opening of the Topaz museum as a way to remember the past. In the grand opening, Donald K.  Tamaki said that the museum was, “a beacon of what this country aspires to be; a nation with the integrity to acknowledge it’s wrongs, memorialize them in the hope that they are never repeated.” Tom Kelly writes, “Most importantly, its displays test you to answer that question: “Could this happen again?”” However, in 2020, signs put up by the museum were blown apart by bullets and blasted with shotgun shells, and museum markers were spray-painted by political messaging. And as all this was happening, archaeologists discovered the monument to a man who was shot and killed by the guards. They had believed the monument to have been destroyed, but it was uncovered by two archaeologists using a map from the National Archives.  However, the movement of the monument created controversy, as the action was taken without the consultation of Japanese American community. The museum claimed that because of the anti-Asian hate being displayed they had to remove the monument as quickly as possible before it was vandalized.  The Wakaska Memorial Committee stated that, “The committee members— except for the museum directors—were therefore stunned that the Topaz Museum Board unearthed the monument on July 27, 2021 in a crude and unprofessional procedure, and without notification to or consultation with the broader Japanese American community of survivors and descendants,” There was also anger over the fact that the monument was not removed properly; it was removed with a backhoe. The Japanese American Citizen’s League wrote to the museum board, saying the “preemptive removal of this memorial stone denied our community a ceremony of blessing, remembrance and reflection; a ritual that is very much a part of Japanese American culture. Robbed of this ritual, we are left feeling that this sacred memorial site has been irreparably desecrated.” The museum wrote a response, stating that, “In our haste to protect the stone, we made a mistake in not notifying Topaz incarcerees, their descendants, and the broader Topaz community of our decision to move the monument quickly. We should have informed them and didn’t. We apologized before and do so here again. We will do better.”  

Scandals

The Wakasa Monument, the location which has been a mystery for nearly 80 years, was discovered in 2020 by researcher Ukai through the National Archives. A map made in 1943 by George Shimamoto pinpointed the location of Wakasa's death. Ukai shared the map with archaeologists Jeff Burton and Mary M. Farrell, leading to the identification and excavation of the monument at Topaz. Concerns brought up by the Topaz Museum Board about vandalism arose, prompting them to relocate the monument to a secure location within the Topaz Museum. After the monument's removal, the board issued a public apology for not notifying the community in advance about the monument's relocation efforts. The Topaz Museum Board wanted to emphasize protecting the monument and expressed that they will involve the community in future plans.

Dave Tatsuno

Among the objects detailed by Topaz Museum are historic photographs, some of Dave Tatsuno. Tatusno is notable for recording home movie-style photographs of friends and family in the camp and has had his work accepted into the Library of Congress archive. Many photographs from the War Relocation Authority are noted and can be accessed from the National Archive website. The Topaz Museum website also shows more recent photographs of the camp site.

References

Other sources use that are not cited directly in the content

1. “Preserving the Topaz Site and Its World War II History.” Topaz Museum, September 26, 2023. https://topazmuseum.org/topaz-history/about-topaz-museum/.
2. Quarterly, from Utah Historical. “Topaz Museum Grand Opening Keynote Address July 8, 2017.” Issuu, from Utah Historical Quarterly, Volume 86, Number 2, 2018by Utah Historical Society, 19 May 2022, issuu.com/utah10/docs/uhq_volume86_2018_number2/s/160949.
3. Kelly, Tom. “Sunday Drive: Remembering Our Past at the Topaz Museum.” ParkRecord.Com, ParkRecord.com, 3 July 2023, www.parkrecord.com/opinion/sunday-drive-remembering-our-past-at-the-topaz-museum/.
4. News, Nichi Bei. “Unearthing a Monumental Controversy: Removal of Memorial to Topaz Shooting Victim Enrages Community.” Nichi Bei, 19 Oct. 2021, www.nichibei.org/2021/10/unearthing-a-monumental-controversy-removal-of-memorial-to-topaz-shooting-victim-enrages-community/.
5. Jacobson, Sam. “Topaz Museum Digs up Lost Memorial.” Millard County Chronicle Progress, 29 Sept. 2021, millardccp.com/featured-local-news/54-featured-news/5953-topaz-museum-digs-up-lost-memorial.
6. “Children of Topaz Return to the Prison They Once Called Home.” Cal Alumni Association, 19 Jan. 2022, alumni.berkeley.edu/california-magazine/online/americans-journey-their-childhood-home-topaz-internment-camp/.
7. News, Nichi Bei. “Unearthing a Monumental Controversy: Removal of Memorial to Topaz Shooting Victim Enrages Community.” Nichi Bei, October 19, 2021. https://www.nichibei.org/2021/10/unearthing-a-monumental-controversy-removal-of-memorial-to-topaz-shooting-victim-enrages community/#:~:text=Japanese%20American%20community%20members%20%E2%80%94%20including,summer%20from%20the%20site%20of.
8. Reports, Rafu. “Statement from the Topaz Museum Board.” Rafu Shimpo, September 23, 2021. https://rafu.com/2021/09/statement-from-the-topaz-museum-board/.
9. “Art by Students and Teachers of the Topaz Art School.” Topaz Museum, 9 Nov. 2023, topazmuseum.org/museum/exhibits/art/.
10. Internment and Identity in Japanese American Art - JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2713369?ab_segments=0%2Fbasic_search_gsv2%2Fcontrol&searchKey=. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.