LEARNING AND LIVING
Education at Amache Camp
AMACHE HIGH SCHOOL
The Amache High School was the first school built at Amache, with its completion scheduled for January 1943. However, nationwide press began to spread the stories that internment camps--not just Amache--were receiving permanent schools, and the backlash toward the War Relocation Authority was incredible. Originally, plans included three schools at Amache: an elementary school, a middle school, and the high school. The high school was the only one completed due to complaints about the cost to American taxpayers to educate ‘enemies,’ but three cohorts of seniors graduated while Amache was in operation. Curricula at the school included subjects one would find outside the camps, including civics, science, literature, sociology, and art. (Harvey 105)
High School Commencement, June 1943. Image Source: CSU Japanese American Digitization Project, California State University, Dominguez Hills.
AMERICAN AT HEART
One of the ways that the Japanese fostered a sense of normalcy within their camp was by hosting social events for the community--especially for the youth in the schools who may otherwise have missed out on some of the traditional American rites of passage. Community brigades hosted movie nights, Sumo tournaments, bridge clubs, photography classes, and athletic teams. The image to the right shows a junior prom held at Amache Camp. (Shew 30)
Image Source: CSU Japanese American Digitization Project, California State University, Dominguez Hills.
BONDING AND BROTHERHOOD
The entire community tended to come together to make the experience of youth at Amache easier to tolerate. In addition to secular activities, there were a variety of churches of varying denominations scattered across the one-square-mile expanse of camp. Concerts like the one advertised at right were often co-sponsored by these religious organizations: this one was hosted in conjunction with a non-denominational Christian church.
Yuletide Concert Flyer. Image Source: Japanese-American Archival Collection. Department of Special Collections and Archives, California State University, Sacramento. Sacramento, California.
Sources:
Harvey, Robert. Amache : the story of Japanese internment in Colorado during World War II. Lanham, Md. : Taylor Trade Pub. : Distributed by National Book Network, 2004.
Shew, D. O. (2010). Feminine identity confined: The archaeology of japanese women at amache, a WWII internment camp (Order No. 1478259). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses A&I; ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (635924005). Retrieved from https://colorado.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.colorado.idm.oclc.org/docview/635924005?accountid=14503