(BAY AREA, CA – October 2, 2024)  The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) is proud to present a new virtual tour that highlights the experiences of 700 Japanese American men who were temporarily incarcerated at Angel Island during World War II. The tour is based on “Taken From Their Families”, a permanent exhibit at the Angel Island Immigration Station, located at Angel Island State Park in San Francisco Bay.

"This virtual tour helps to shed more light on the unjust arrest of Japanese Americans during World War II," stated AIISF's Executive Director Edward Tepporn. "It is also a valuable opportunity for those who may not be able to visit Angel Island in person to still experience the impact of walking through the site's historic buildings."

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the FBI arrested many men of Japanese heritage across Hawaii and the West Coast. These men were comprised of religious leaders, journalists, photographers, consular agents, martial artists, and other community leaders whom the government perceived to have stronger ties to Japan than to the US. Over 700 hundred of these men were incarcerated on Angel Island before being moved to other locations across the US. To date, there is no evidence that any of these men contributed any acts of espionage or violence against the US. 

Created in partnership with Angel Island State Park and CyArk, the virtual tour uses high-resolution photography and additional 3D data to create an online experience that transports visitors to the site’s historic mess hall and other parts of the former detention barracks building. The virtual tour was funded, in part, by a grant from the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.

To experience the virtual tour, visit tapestry.cyark.org/content/angel-island-wwii

AIISF will be hosting a FREE virtual program to celebrate the launch of the new virtual tour on:

Tuesday, October 8, 2024
5:30 pm Pacific
Register at www.aiisf.org/events/showcasing-our-latest-exhibit-cyark

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About AIISF

Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) is the primary nonprofit organization working in partnership with Angel Island State Park to preserve the buildings at the former US Immigration Station at Angel Island. AIISF collects and preserves the personal journeys of thousands of immigrants past and present in order to uplift their experiences and stories through in-person and virtual programs. To learn more, visit www.aiisf.org.

About Angel Island Immigration Station

From 1910 to 1940, over 500,000 persons from 80 different countries were processed or detained at the former U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island. While sometimes referred to as the “Ellis Island of the West”, Angel Island’s immigration station was built to enforce the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and similar immigration policies that sought to keep Asian and Pacific Islander immigrants from entering the nation. During WWII, the site was used to incarcerate over 700 Japanese Americans from Hawaii and other Western states. The former U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997. The site now includes the Detention Barracks Museum and the Angel Island Immigration Museum. 

About CyArk

CyArk is an international nonprofit organization that uses 3D laser scanning, photogrammetry, and traditional survey techniques to create an online, 3D library of the world's cultural heritage sites before they are lost to natural disasters, destroyed by human aggression, or ravaged by the passage of time. To date, CyArk has digitally preserved nearly 200 heritage sites, such as Pisa, Pompeii, Easter Island, Babylon, Mount Rushmore and the Brandenburg Gate.

Media Contacts:
Edward Tepporn
Executive Director, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
etepporn@aiisf.org
(415) 658-7691

Whitney Peterson,
Program Manager, CyArk
info@cyark.org