PRESERVING THE PAST
Granada and Colorado Remember Amache
AMACHE PRESERVATION SOCIETY
Amache Preservation Society is currently run largely by the students of the local high school. These students conduct tours of both the camp site and the museum, which is located in downtown Granada. One of the current projects for the APS is to reconstruct the camp using original structures--no small feat considering that following the war, the structures were sold by the government to the highest bidders.
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The Recreation Hall returns to Granada. Image Source: Sangosti, R.J., The Denver Post, 2018.
UNIVERSITY OF DENVER AMACHE PROJECT
The DU Amache Research Project is a program from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Denver and is headed by Dr. Bonnie Clark. Clark and her team engage in frequent archaeological digs of the camp site in order to find a better understanding of the lives and experiences of the inmates and surrounding communities. The DU Amache Project is also involved in the creation of traveling exhibits and the sponsorship of graduate-level scholarship at several Colorado universities.
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Two former internees volunteer as adults at one of the DU Amache Project digs. Image Source: DU Amache Research Project, http://portfolio.du.edu/amache
Acknowledgments
The discussion of organizations with a commitment to maintaining the historical memory of the Amache camp is sourced from my own investigations, including a trip to Amache Camp and the Amache Museum on 19-20 November 2018 and a visit to the Auraria Library at the University of Denver in early December 2018.
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I am grateful to those members of the Southeastern Colorado community who introduced me to Amache, shared their stories, and helped me access archival material and secondary sources.
Of particular assistance was John Hopper, director of the Amache Preservation Society, who gave me a private tour of the museum over Thanksgiving break.
I would also like to acknowledge Dr. Bonnie Clark for replying to an email from a stranger with a wide variety of resource suggestions, without which this Web Archive would not have been possible.
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Finally, I would like to thank Dr. Vilja Hulden, Summer Carper, Berkeley Newhouse-Velie, Tynan McMullen, Hugh Waters, and Eric Goodman, whose feedback and enthusiasm over this semester have been an invaluable contribution to my education.