AIISF Collaborative Receives Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA – September 17, 2021) The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) has received an $85,500 grant from the Department of Interior, National Park Service (NPS) through the Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) grant program. The grant will support the Angel Island Connections: Developing Digital and Traveling Exhibits About the Japanese American Detention at Angel Island During World War II project. In 2021, NPS awarded 22 grants totaling over $3,155,000. With these funds, JACS grants are awarded to private nonprofit organizations; educational institutions; state, local, and tribal governments, and other public entities to preserve and interpret U.S. confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during World War II.

The collaborative which also includes Angel Island State Park, CyArk, and Densho will work together on 3D-laser-based scanning of additional structures at the former U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island, a National Historic Landmark. The grant will support the creation of two exhibits: (1) a 3D virtual exhibit that combines the emotional impact of 3D experience and oral histories collected through digital storytelling workshops and (2) a traveling exhibit based on the 3D virtual exhibit.

From 1910 to 1940, Angel Island (in San Francisco Bay) was the site of a US Immigration Station where over 500,000 persons from 80 different countries were processed and detained. While its East Coast counterpart at Ellis Island became a symbol of the nation’s welcoming of immigrants, Angel Island’s immigration station was built to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and similar immigration policies. After a fire burned down the site’s Administration Building in 1940, the site was reclaimed by the U.S. Army and the remaining buildings were used during World War II. Over 700 persons of Japanese ancestry from Hawaii and across the West Coast were temporarily detained on Angel Island before being transferred to Department of Justice camps across the U.S.

AIISF Executive Director Edward Tepporn expressed, “Now more than ever, it is important to remember, acknowledge, and learn from the dark chapters in our nation’s history. We are thankful for this support from the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service that allows us to continue to raise understanding of Angel Island’s connections to other Japanese American Confinement Sites. We look forward to partnering with Angel Island State Park, CyArk, Densho, and historian Grant Din to continue to spark understanding and empathy for Japanese and Japanese Americans who were incarcerated at Angel Island and other JACS sites during World War II.”

CyArk CEO John Ristevski stated, "We are excited to partner with the AIISF and CA State Parks to develop digital tours and exhibits to share another layer of the history of Angel Island with the public as part of our commitment to document places and amplify their diverse stories. We are grateful for the support of the Japanese American Confinement Sites grant program to allow us to use digital documentation and interactive media to tell the story of forced detention on Angel Island of hundreds of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II."

For more information on this project, please contact AIISF at (415) 658-7691. For questions regarding the JACS grant program, please contact Kara Miyagashima, Program Manager, Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program, NPS, at (303) 969-2885.

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About AIISF

Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) raises awareness of the experience of Immigration into America through the Pacific. As a cooperating association with California State Parks, AIISF collects and preserves the rich stories and personal journeys of thousands of immigrants, and shares them with visitors and everyone living in America through education initiatives and public programs. Angel Island Immigration Station reminds us of the complicated history of immigration in America. It serves as a symbol of our willingness to learn from our past to ensure that our nation keeps its promise of liberty and freedom. To learn more, visit www.aiisf.org.

About AISP

Angel Island State Park (AISP) is part of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. California State Parks provides for the health, inspiration, and education of the people of California by helping to preserve the state’s extraordinary biological diversity, protecting its most valued natural and cultural resources, and creating opportunities for high-quality outdoor recreation.

About CyArk

CyArk is a nonprofit organization founded in 2003 to digitally record, archive, and share the world's cultural heritage and ensure that these places continue to inspire wonder and curiosity for decades to come. Since its inception, we have recorded over 200 monuments on all 7 continents. We assist those who work to manage and preserve these sites by providing engineering drawings and detailed maps to assist in critical conservation work and active management. We archive the data using state-of-the-art processes to ensure that this data continues to be available in a disaster recovery scenario, tomorrow or decades in the future. And we strive to share this data in powerful ways, including truly immersive experiences that convey the power of these places, transporting users that may never have a chance to experience them, and inspiring others to make the journey.

About Densho

Densho is a nonprofit organization that started in 1996, with the initial goal of documenting oral histories from Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. This evolved into a mission to educate, preserve, collaborate and inspire action for equity. Densho uses digital technology to preserve and make accessible primary source materials on the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. We present these materials and related resources for their historic value and as a means of exploring issues of democracy, intolerance, wartime hysteria, civil rights, and the responsibilities of citizenship in our increasingly global society.