Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese Americans During WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties
February 18 – May 29, 2022
Presenting Sponsor:
The Yabuki Family Foundation
What does an American look like? Who gets to decide?
Then They Came for Me: Incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII and the Demise of Civil Liberties examines the terrifying period in U.S. history when the government scapegoated and imprisoned thousands of people of Japanese ancestry. This multimedia exhibition draws parallels to tactics chillingly resurgent today featuring imagery by noted American photographers Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams, alongside works by incarcerated Japanese American artist Toyo Miyatake.
The exhibition tells the story of the forced removal of 120,000 Japanese American citizens and legal residents from their homes on the West Coast during World War II without due process or other constitutional protections to which they were entitled.
Admission will be FREE through May 29, 2022, due to a generous donation from The Yabuki Family Foundation. Book your tickets here.
Public Programs for Then They Came For Me
Virtual Opening Preview of Then They Came For Me
Thursday, February 17, 7:00 PM
Ablaze
Thursday, March 10, 6:00 PM
Location: Milwaukee Art Museum
From Citizens to Enemy Aliens: Japanese Americans and the History of Anti-Asian Xenophobia
Tuesday, March 15, 7:00 PM
Virtual Film Screening – ALTERNATIVE FACTS: The Lies of Executive Order 9066
Sunday, March 20 – Saturday, April 2
Book Talk – Setsuko’s Secret: Heart Mountain and the Legacy of the Japanese American Incarceration
Tuesday, April 12, 7:00 PM
Japanese American Activism, Civil Rights and Broader Immigration Issues
Thursday, May 12, 7:00 PM
Intergenerational Trauma Stemming from Incarceration
Thursday, May 19, 7:00 PM
442nd Regimental Combat Team and Segregation in the Military
Wednesday, May 25, 7:00 PM
Click here for a full list of programs at Jewish Museum Milwaukee.
Sponsors:
– Argosy Foundation
– Linda and Eli Frank
Anonymous Foundation of the Jewish Community Foundation, Nina and Richard Edelman, Green Bay Packers Foundation, Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center, Avi and Dannette Lank, Sharon and Richard Canter, Jason Steigman and Dori Frankel Steigman
Then They Came for Me was originated in Chicago by the Alphawood Foundation with the support and cooperation of the Japanese American Service Committee of Chicago.
It also appeared ·in modified form at the International Center of Photography in New York and at the Presidio, San Francisco, made possible there through the generosity of the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation of Oakland, California.
Jewish Museum Milwaukee’s presentation of Then They Came for Me represents an abridged and modified version of the original exhibition.