Berkeley Exhibit Lists City's Japanese American Residents Who Were Taken During WWII

CBS Bay Area

June 4, 2025

The Trump administration said it is deporting immigrants because they pose a threat to national security. That's the same reason given for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Now, a national monument in the form of a book that commemorates the internees is on display in Berkeley, and on Tuesday, a Bay Area man had a surprise encounter with his own past.

The Berkeley Historical Society is confronting the city's troubled past when it comes to Japanese Americans with a special exhibit entitled "Roots, Removal and Resistance." It has identified the names of all 1,194 residents forcibly removed to internment camps following FDR's infamous Executive Order 9066.

"Well, I think what it does is it allows us to reconstruct the lives of the 1,200 people who lived in Berkeley before this evacuation happened," said curator David Ushijima. "And it brings up a lot of memories, especially given the situation currently with immigrant families. When we see the names of people who were forcibly removed by an executive order, we see the possibility that it could happen again. And one of the things we're hoping is that it never happens again."

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