Teachers wishing to visit some of the Life Interrupted project museum exhibits are encouraged to contact Dr. Kristin Mann at UA Little Rock for more information (501) 569-8152 or kdmann@ualr.edu. The following exhibits will be available for student groups in the spring semester, 2005:
At the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History through April 2005
http://www.arkmilitaryheritage.com
Contact Person: Stephan McAteer, (501) 376-4602, smcateer@littlerock.state.ar.us
Undaunted Courage, Proven Loyalty: Japanese American Soldiers in World War II
This exhibit, curated by the UA Little Rock Public History Program, focuses on the military experience of Japanese Americans during World War II, including stories from veterans of the 100th Infantry Battalion and the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, and the Military Intelligence Service. To prove their loyalty to the U.S. government, many Nisei men joined the army as part of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team or as part of the Military Intelligence Service. An interactive kiosk of WWII Japanese American veterans is also provided by the Go For Broke Educational Foundation.
Beyond the Call of Duty: Honoring the 24 Japanese American Medal of Honor Recipients
Organized by the Japanese American National Museum, this display honors the extraordinary war heroism of Japanese American recipients of the prestigious Medal of Honor, our nation’s highest and most rarely awarded Armed Forces decoration.
Witness: Our Brothers’ Keepers
Organized by the Japanese American National Museum and co-developed with the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, this exhibition tells a story of Japanese Americans and American Jews in the military during World War II who experienced discrimination at home and on the war front. Their experiences intersect in the German countryside in 1945 as they witnessed the liberation of the death camps of the Holocaust, the ultimate consequence of unchecked bigotry.
At the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Donaghey Student Center, April-May 2005
Against Their Will: The Japanese American Experience in World War II Arkansas
This exhibit, developed by the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Public History Program, depicts life in the Arkansas camps at Rohwer and Jerome. The exhibit looks at the camps from the Japanese American perspective as well as the perspective of Arkansans who lived near or worked in the camps. Through stories and images, the exhibit highlights the total camp experience from assembly center to resettlement.
Guest Speakers and Research Assistance
Guest speakers from the Life Interrupted project staff can be scheduled for presentations to teacher or student groups by contacting the UA Little Rock History Department at (501) 569-3235.
For students completing research or history day projects related to the Japanese American experience in World War II Arkansas, many research aids are available on the Life Interrupted primary source documents CD-ROM, available through Dr. Kristin Mann at UA Little Rock. In addition, the UA Little Rock archives, located in the Ottenheimer Library on the UA Little Rock campus, contains many documents, including letters, photographs, autobiographies, yearbooks, and official government documentation. Finally, students might try searching the Japanese American National Museum’s website, http://www.janm.org, the National Archives, http://www.archives.gov, or the Library of Congress American Memory project, http://memory.loc.gov.