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 the nationwide incarceration during World War II). The Washington State Fair 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. Featuring inclusive and comprehensive information, personal stories, and examples of everyday camp life, each section is designed to provide a variety of media to bet er 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 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 foot by 10 foot historic recreation 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 grandstand.
An Example Horse Stall for a Family
Photo by Dorothea Lange. Courtesy of National Archives
Throughline
Interactive touch-screen 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 covered, 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.
Download our Brochure
Click on the image to download our beautiful brochure.
History of the Puyallup Assembly Center
- A Brief History of the Puyallup Assembly Center
- Learn more about the Japanese Incarceration during World War II
- Notable acts of kindness toward incarcerated Japanese Americans
- Harmony, the memorial sculpture near the Remembrance Gallery
- The Silent Fair is a video told through recollections of individuals who lived through incarceration
Thank You for Your Donations
We continue to accept donations to fund the maintenance and operation of the Gallery, including future stories, curriculum development, teacher workshops, school tours, Day of Remembrance events and more.