World War II internees reunite. Japanese Americans detained at Santa Anita Park before being sent to camps share photos, memories and friendship, at 75th anniversary event in Little Tokyo. See hard copy in VF Assembly Center.
Interview with author Brad Pearson who wrote the book The Eagles of Heart Mountain. He tackles the injustice of Japanese-American incarceration through the exploits of a World War II camp football team. Article mentions many evacuees were detained at Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia before being shipped out.
Ed Inouye of West Covina, whose family was sent to the internment camp at Santa Anita Park during World War II, died on February 19th. He was instrumental in getting the government to pay reparations to some of the imprisoned families.
Arcadia Mayor Barbara Kuhn presented a trophy to Corey Nakatani after the jockey rode Atticus for a world record time in the recent Arcadia Handicap at Santa Anita Park. Photo.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to support legislation establishing February 19 as "Remembrance Day" for those Japanese who were sent to internment camps during World War II. Locally, an internment camp was set up at Santa Anita Park.
A new exhibit at the Ruth and Charles Gilb Arcadia Historical Museum is about the Santa Anita Assembly Center, a temporary facility at Santa Anita Park that held Japanese Americans before they were sent to more permanent internment camps during World War II. The opening reception will feature speakers Osamu Miyamoto, Akkiko Nomura and others. Dana Dunn is the curator.
Oak Tree racing season opens at Santa Anita Park race track. A photograph shows jockey Corey Nakatani on horse called Liquidity, jockey Aaron Gryder riding Mystic Wood, and trumpeter Jay Cohen.
Breeders' Cup seen as good bet for Southern California. The 2019 Breeders' Cup World Championships will take place at Santa Anita Park. The two-day event is expected to generate as much as $100 million for the SoCal economy.
Paul Graf, 90, of New Albany, Indiana, came back to Arcadia to see Santa Anita Park again. He had been based there as a United States Army staff sergeant during World War II, when the track was turned over to the Army Ordnance Corps for training purposes and was officially renamed Camp Santa Anita. Graf said he used to run for exercise on the Anita Chiquita training track, which was eliminated when the Santa Anita Fashion Park was built in the 1970s. Graf had arrived at Camp Santa Anita around November 1942, after the site had already been used as the Japanese Assembly Center. Photo shows Graf holding an issue of Man O' War, a newspaper issued by army personnel at Camp Santa Anita.
Actor and activist George Takei, 75, famous for his portrayal of Sulu on television series Star Trek, will talk about gay rights and a childhood spent in internment camps at Santa Anita Park (assembly center), Tule Lake and Rohwer, Arkansas, during World War II. He will be speaking at Cal Poly Pomona on Tuesday.
Arcadia Library presents Japanese Artist's Journey. The life and legacy of artist J.T. Sata will be the subject of a virtual program on October 10, presented by Arcadia Public Library in partnership with Japanese American National Museum. The book J.T. Sata: a Japanese Immigrant in Search of Western Art will be discussed by authors Frank Sata (son of J.T. Sata) and Naomi Hirahara. (J.T. Sata and family were imprisoned at Santa Anita Assembly Center during World War II).
Funeral services were held Tuesday at Arlington Mortuary in Riverside for Edwin Francis Lindros of Arcadia. He spent more than three years as a prisoner of war in World War II.
1. Man O’ War. Ordnance Training Center. Camp Santa Anita. Arcadia, California. Vol. 1, No. 1, December 25, 1942 – Vol. 2, No. 22, May 19, 1944. Bound, Complete
1. Man O’ War. Ordnance Training Center. Camp Santa Anita. Arcadia, California. Vol. 1, No. 1, December 25, 1942 – Vol. 2, No. 22, May 19, 1944. Bound, Complete
Santa Anita Park has live-racing for the first time on the same day as Kentucky Derby. The track will be rooting for Santa Anita Derby winner California Chrome, a California-bred race horse.
Congressional Gold Medal of Honor presented to Sierra Madre Nisei soldier Shoso Nomura, age 93. It has been 68 years since Nomura served as a Japanese-American intelligence officer for the U.S. Army in World War II. He was born on Lucky Baldwin's daughter Anita Baldwin's ranch (corner of Foothill Boulevard and Double Drive--known today as Santa Anita Avenue).
American Institute of Architects, Southern California Chapter, held their Annual Hi-Jinks on Rancho Santa Anita. Photo shows baseball game in progress.
Honorary degrees were awarded to Japanese-American former Pasadena City College students who had their educations cut short by internment during World War II. Japanese-American "nisei" students at what was then Pasadena Junior College never got the chance to graduate with the Class of 1942. One honorary graduate, Fusae Hamane (died in 1997), born and raised in Pasadena, was told to report to Santa Anita Park race track before being sent to a camp in Gila Bend, AZ. The graduation came 68 years later.