Densho Digital Archive - Joe Seto Interview (denshovh-sjoe

<Begin Segment 14>

EB: Is there anything else that I haven't asked you about that you'd like to share with me today?

JS: Well, as I said previously, I'm very pleased at the kind of work that you and your staff are doing, and I think that this, my main interest today is something that is documented, history, historical aspects of what happened during World War II. It's wonderful that the government, the federal government has supported your efforts to do this. I have a question for you.

EB: Sure.

JS: How many of the camps have now declared official historical park sites, or what do you designate them as?

EB: Well, Manzanar is a National Historic Site.

JS: And how about all the other camps?

EB: The only other camp that is under the Park Service, National Park Service in the Department of the Interior is Minidoka. And it's currently Minidoka Internment National Monument, but I recently read an article in the New York Times that there is some debate about the name. There's a couple of different interest groups, and that some want it named to be Minidoka National Historic Site like Manzanar, and there's another group that would rather it be named or called Minidoka Concentration Camp National Monument. And I'll have to find a copy of that and send it to you, but I just happened to be traveling a few weeks ago and picked up a New York Times, and I opened it up, and there's this article about Minidoka. And I talked to my supervisor, Alisa Lynch, our Chief of Interpretation, said, "Oh, I found this article." She's like, "Oh, yeah," she's heard about this and I guess been asked to comment on it, but it's I had heard, and there it was in the New York Times. But that's the only one, those are the only two that are preserved through the National Park Service. And Tule Lake was named a National Historical Landmark which is a very special designation, and that happened I think on Remembrance Day of this year in February.

JS: Are they supported financially by the federal government?

EB: Just Manzanar and Minidoka right now.

JS: Well, how about Tule Lake then?

EB: Tule Lake is not. I think it's a private organization. But you know, there's hope that many of the camps will come under the jurisdiction of the Park Service and gaining legislation through, as a National Historic Landmark is one of the first steps in the process of becoming a National Historic Site and that sort of thing. And actually I have a handout for you, it's called Camp Connections, and the staff at Manzanar put it together a few years ago about all the different preservation efforts at the different camps. And so we'll have to look in there and see more about Tule Lake and who's actually preserving it. But in some way, it seems like many of the sites are preserved. I know especially the camp down in... well, they're on Native American land now, and you have to get permission, I believe, to go, to return and visit those sites. And I think some of the area that was camp is now cropland, so the archeological features and the buildings are not as easy to see as, say, Manzanar. But the camps in Arkansas, University of Arkansas Little Rock has an oral history program, and they're working to preserve those two camps, are highly involved in that.

JS: We had a big event there recently. And Rockefeller provided several million dollars.

EB: Oh, really?

JS: For that event. They invited speakers, I think Roger Daniels was one of the speakers. Boy, that was quite a big event. It was publicized in the Japanese newspapers, the Pacific Citizen. So do you envision that all of the camps will eventually come under the Park Service like Manzanar?

EB: I don't know. I don't know if maybe my supervisor would have a better idea of that. I think there's a good chance that there could be more camps designated and acquired by the Park Service, but who knows? Or if not the Park Service, hopefully a state historic system, state park system, or some other private organization could do more with any of the camps to preserve them and that sort of thing.

JS: So if I understand, Manzanar is, has sufficient financial support?

EB: Uh-huh. It does.

JS: My wife is going to go on this trip, pilgrimage was one that was organized.

EB: Yes, yes, September.

JS: September 23rd or something. So she's going to go on that. It's only a small group, only about one busload.

EB: Okay.

JS: Well, you've heard about it before.

EB: Yeah, Richard and I are excited about the group coming.

JS: Now my wife is saying, "Why do they have to go so far to go to a Japanese restaurant?"

EB: It's the only one around.

JS: Have you heard about that?

EB: Yeah, in Bishop.

JS: Isn't there any around Lone Pine?

EB: Nope. [Laughs] Lone Pine isn't quite that exotic. You can get some Mexican food in Lone Pine. There is a French restaurant in Independence.

JS: They had a good restaurant in Lone Pine, American food. We ate there.

EB: Yeah, there's a couple of good restaurants. And actually the Japanese restaurant in Bishop just moved down there. It was the gentleman that owned the restaurant up in Mammoth, and he opened one up in Bishop back in December. So it's still fairly new, and it's always crowded. That's a pretty far track, but I live in Bishop and I do the drive every day. It's a pretty drive, so I think it'll be worth it.

JS: Well, thank you.

EB: Thank you. It's been a great interview, and I appreciate your time.

JS: Sure, I'm happy to do this.

EB: Thank you.