The Remembrance Gallery

Behind Barbed Wire

Courtesy of the Tokuda Family Collection, Densho

The Puyallup Valley Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) presents the "Puyallup Assembly Center" Remembrance Gallery. The Gallery encourages an inclusive understanding of the wrongful incarceration of 125,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans in the United States during WWII (Learn more about mass incarceration during World War II). The Washington State Fair has provided a space to build a permanent historic exhibit inside the grandstand, which is part of the original confinement site (Learn more about the history of the Puyallup Assembly Center).

Overview of Gallery Sections

The Remembrance Gallery has three distinct sections providing inclusive and comprehensive information, personal stories, and examples of everyday camp life. Each section is designed to provide a variety of media to better understand this wartime experience.

Monument

The heart of the gallery is a memorial wall that lists the names of over 7,500 people imprisoned on these fairgrounds. Their names are in alphabetical order according to family last names along with their government-assigned family number.

Family in the Puyallup Assembly Center Barracks

Photo by Howard Clifford. Courtesy of UW Libraries Special Collections

Confinement

Visitors can step inside a full-size 8 feet by 10 feet historic replica of the horse stalls, used as makeshift housing for many PAC incarcerees. It is an immersive, multisensory experience of the living conditions where up to four men, women, and children lived in a single stall. within the dark, dirty stables under the grandstands.

An Example Horse Stall for a Family

Photo by Dorothea Lange. Courtesy of National Archives

Throughline

Interactive touchscreen displays illuminate and humanize the stories of survivors. Through interviews and comprehensive content, visitors can learn about a range of topics, including: discrimination and racist laws, Nisei veterans, civil disobedience, acts of kindness, and the influence of camp life on artists and authors. Current events are also presented, highlighting how communities are still denied safety, civil liberties, and human rights today due to prejudice and bigotry. A Map Station traces the paths of Washington Nikkei as they were forcibly removed from their homes to concentration camps, using movement and distance to emphasize the impact on individuals and communities.

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