One of the most fascinating parts of this work is that I am constantly learning new things about World War II and about the many occupations, incarcerations, and internments that took place during those years. In 2018, I learned that Santa Fe, NM was the site of a detention center where Japanese Americans and some Japanese Latin Americans were held.
Another truth about this work is that it is by nature collaborative; the historical record, especially for something as odious as a government’s wholesale jailing of its own citizens based on their ethnicity, is full of gaps and erasures. While this is frustrating for many reasons, it also means that new information pops up all the time, and sometimes in unlikely places. For instance, my husband sent me a link to a story about Santa Fe’s lesser-known history; tucked within the series of stories was a short piece about the WWII-era facility.
- Santa Fe Reporter: Santa Fe’s Dark History
- Densho Encyclopedia: Santa Fe Detention Center
- New Mexico History: Japanese American Internment Camps in New Mexico
- Public Lands History Center: Confinement in the Land of Enchantment: Japanese Americans in New Mexico during World War II
- New Mexico Public Broadcasting: Internment Camps & the Immigration Debate (video)
- Santa Fe New Mexican: Not Getting Stuck in Injustice: Japanese American Citizens in WWII-era New Mexico
- Discover Nikkei: Enduring Communities: The Nikkei in New Mexico