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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Saturday, February 28, 2009

Focus on camp, internees

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser
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It's been 66 years since the Honouliuli Internment Camp was opened in Hawai'i, and tomorrow is a day to honor the 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry held here and on the Mainland during World War II.

Sponsored by the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i and the Japanese American Citizens League-Honolulu Chapter, the event at the University of Hawai'i features talks on the history of the camp and developments on its preservation. Among the speakers:

• State Sen. Will Espero will share an internee's story.

• Jeff Burton, a National Park Service archaeologist, will talk about the most recent findings of his review of 35 internment sites across the country and future plans to preserve Honouliuli, where about 300 Hawai'i residents were detained.

• Jane Kurahara, co-chairwoman of the Confinement Sites Committee, will discuss plans for a memorial and interpretative center at the site.

After the program, attendees can go to a help session on family archival searches, view the traveling exhibit "Dark Clouds Over Paradise: The Hawai'i Internees Story," participate in talk story groups or share personal World War II experiences at the oral history booth.

The free event will be held from 1 to 3:30 p.m. tomorrow in the University of Hawai'i Architecture Auditorium. For more information, call

945-7633 or visit www.jcch.com.