Logan R

The Story of Manzanar

Logan Romeo

Yarmouth High School, Grade 10

My hero's name is Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga. Born in Sacramento, California, she played a crucial role in the redress movement and in the AAA (Asian Americans for Action.) by participating in protests and other efforts to not only prove that the American government unlawfully incarcerated Japanese Americans but she also stood up and protested for a peaceful ending to the war we had with vietnam.

What I think was the most important thing about her was her dedication to prove that the government illegally captured thousands of Japanese Americans. Her commitment was eventually granted with reward as she found crucial documents about the government's misconduct during the war that led to their forcing 120,000 Japanese Americans into internment camps across the country.

I decided to place Aiko in the first internment camp she was located at, the Manzanar internment camp in the Nevada mountains. There were 36 blocks at the camp, with 500 barracks total. The living conditions in the barracks were poor; there was no running water, and people with no relation were crammed together in each of these barracks. Taking that into account, I chose to make the houses shown almost run-down with no windows or doors to show how they were stuck in these camps. I added overgrown foliage to show how uncared for the housing situations were. I put Aiko standing in front with a document in her hand, representing the one she had found that proved that the government falsely contained 120,000 Japanese Americans. In the background of the painting, there is a working farm that holds the other interned at that camp, they’re shown working on one of the 10 croplands in the camp. Each internment camp holds about 10 farms for the people to work on. Alongside other jobs under white managing directors, like hospital staff workers.

I’ll be sharing my unsung hero's story through my artwork, which will be located at an art show in our local library, and also through a website people can access online. By talking about the meaning behind my art and Aiko's story as an unsung hero, I’ll personally be teaching people about her dedication and heroism and how she saved thousands of people from incarceration.

I would say that during the process of making this project, it really did make me think about a lot of things. As I was working on painting Aiko, I continued to think about all she went through just to barely be recognized as a historical figure, even with all of her tremendous accomplishments throughout her life. Not only did she help with the redress movement, but she also helped many other foundations become what they are today. To think that someone who has helped so many people is still not nationally known as a hero makes me wonder about all the other unsung heroes' accomplishments that have yet to be discovered. I hope that in the future my school will continue doing this project, and that more hero’s will continue to be discovered and applauded for their acts of heroism and bravery.