Holidays and festivals

Striving to maintain normal lives, Japanese Americans held holiday celebrations and festivals inside the concentration camps. Whether decorating mess halls during the Christmas holiday as part of a camp-wide competition or participating in parades to celebrate the harvest of crops from their own gardens, the Japanese Americans demonstrated their resourcefulness and resilience.

Holidays and festivals (194)

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194 items

img Summer Carnival Parade (ddr-densho-37-469)

Original WRA caption: Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado. Amache Summer Carnival Parade.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-469/

img Labor Day parade (ddr-densho-37-375)

Original WRA caption: Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, California. A parade was held by evacuees to celebrate labor day. Great originality in costuming was shown.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-375/

img Harvest Festival Parade (ddr-densho-37-70)

Original WRA caption: Two of the evacuees who participated in the Harvest Festival Parade which was held at this relocation center.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-70/

img Christmas Eve party (ddr-densho-37-507)

Original WRA caption: Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado. Mrs. Tomiye Funai brings her two year old daughter Carol to the Christmas Eve Party for the children of Block 7-H at the Granada Relocation Center. There were no trees for the barracks room homes, but each mess hall provided a trimmed tree and presents for the children. ...

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-507/

img Arts and crafts festival (ddr-densho-37-504)

Original WRA caption: Granada Relocation Center, Amache, Colorado. Evacuee residents at the Granada Relocation Center, viewing exhibits at the Arts and Crafts Festival in Terry Hall, March 6th to 8th. This festival was sponsored by the Education Division and the "Pioneer," the center newspaper.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-37-504/

img Christmas celebration (ddr-densho-39-3)

Original museum description: Photograph, black and white glossy of a Christmas scene at Minidoka internment camp. Fourteen children are with a Santa Claus and one of the children (a girl) is on his knee. The children are either standing or seated on the floor and one is sitting on the table. There are two trees decorated ...

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-39-3/

doc The Newell Star, Vol. II, No. 18 (May 4, 1945) (ddr-densho-284-67)

Selected article titles: "Baseball Season Opens Tomorrow: Director to Throw First Ball" (p. 1), "War Dept.: 442nd Makes Big Gains in Italy" (pp. 1-2), "Center Firemen Help Quell Tule Lake Fire" (p. 1), and "'May Day' Set for This Sunday" (p. 4).

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-284-67/

doc The Newell Star, Vol. I, No. 6 (April 13, 1944) (ddr-densho-284-11)

Selected article titles: "Co-ordinators Tender Resignations: Return to Normal State Given Reason for Action" (p. 1, 3), "H. Black Quells Segregation and Repatriation Rumors" (p. 1, 4), "Reserve Corps Status Defined" (p. 1), and "Fiscal Section Reveals 5011 Colonists on WRA Payroll" (p. 2).

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-284-11/

img Flag ceremony (ddr-densho-113-14)

These children are watching a flag ceremony near the elementary school in Minidoka concentration camp.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-113-14/

img Children in line for santa (ddr-densho-313-80)

This photo was taken December 22, 1945 at Minidoka. Darlene Shigeno, daughter of Yoshio and Masaye, is shown scratching her head while waiting in line to see Santa.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-313-80/

img Christmas Party (ddr-hmwf-1-472)

"Christmas Party 29-30 Mess Hall, Dec 25-1943" as described on back, Santa Claus handing out gifts

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-hmwf-1-472/

img Christmas Exercise (ddr-hmwf-1-474)

"Christmas Exercise 22-25 Rec Hall, Dec 22-1943" as described on back, children performing

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-hmwf-1-474/

doc Letter (with envelope) to Mollie Wilson from Mary Murakami (December 25, 1942) (ddr-janm-1-32)

Handwritten letter to Mollie Wilson from Mary Murakami (December 25, 1942). Envelope is postmarked December 20, 1942 from the Poston (Colorado River) Incarceration Camp in Parker, Arizona.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-32/

doc Christmas card (with envelope) to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (December 18, 1943) (ddr-janm-1-18)

Christmas card to Molly Wilson from Sandie Saito (December 18, 1943). Blue card with illustration in white of two lambs looking at a shining star. "Joyous Christmas" is on the bottom center on front of card. Envelope is postmarked December 18, 1943 from the Granada (Amache) Incarceration Camp in Amache, Colorado.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-18/

doc Christmas card (with envelope) to Mollie Wilson from Miyeko Imamura (c. 1944) (ddr-janm-1-68)

Christmas card to Mollie Wilson from Miyeko Imamura (c. 1944). Black card, red border with illustration in red/green/blue of a woman in a Christmas dress holding a yellow handkerchief in one hand and a basket of holly in the other. "Yoo Hoo!" is on the front of card. Envelope is postmarked but does not give a ...

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-janm-1-68/

img Christmas Party (ddr-hmwf-1-462)

"Christmas Party 29-30 Mess Hall, Dec 25-1943" as described on back, children's Christmas party

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-hmwf-1-462/

doc Letter from the Masudas to Mrs. Charles Gates (ddr-densho-211-7)

Letter on a single sheet of paper, folded into quarters, from the Masudas in Poston.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-211-7/

doc Letter to two Nisei brothers from their sister (ddr-densho-153-94)

Excerpt: "I got up at 10 to 8 and I was tired enough to stay in bed all day." Sent from Manzanar concentration camp, California, to Chicago, Illinois.

http://ddr.densho.org/ddr-densho-153-94/