The Oregon Cultural Heritage Commission’s traveling exhibit, “Uprooted: Japanese American Farm Labor Camps During World War II,” will be on display at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center from February 11 to June 19.
During the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans, some 33,000 individual contracts were issued for seasonal farm labor, with many Nikkei working in the sugar beet industry. “Uprooted: Japanese American Farm Labor Camps During World War II” introduces their story. The exhibit features a selection of images from federal photographer Russell Lee’s documentation of Japanese American farm labor camps near the towns of Nyssa, Oregon and Rupert, Shelley, and Twin Falls, Idaho. Visitors will learn about the farm labor camps through Lee’s photographs, interpretative text panels, and a short documentary film featuring firsthand accounts about life in the camps. The exhibit’s website – www.uprootedexhibit.com – includes additional images, historic documents, video clips and transcripts from oral history interviews, and other information.
Please click the following links to view the exhibit press release and poster:
