The National Park Service (NPS) is 

pleased to report on the Fiscal Year 

2009 grant awards for the Japanese 

American Confinement Sites Grant 

Program. In 2009, the first year of 

the grant program, the NPS awarded 

19 grants totaling $970,000 to help 

preserve and interpret the historic 

confinement sites where more than 

120,000 Japanese Americans were 

confined during World War II. The 

grants were awarded through a 

competitive process, providing $2 

in federal money for every $1 in 

non-federal funds and/or “in-kind” 

contributions raised by groups and 

individuals working to preserve the 

sites and their histories. 

The grants are funding a wide 

variety of projects, ranging from the 

interpretation of the little known 

internment experience in Hawai`i to 

the preservation of the stockade and 

jail at the Tule Lake Segregation Center 

in California. The awards range from 

$5,000 for a commemorative plaque 

and ceremony at the Arboga Assembly 

Center in Marysville, California, to 

$292,253 for the new Heart Mountain 

Interpretive Learning Center in Park 

County, Wyoming. 

Although the grants support 

preservation and interpretation efforts 

in 12 states, many of the projects are 

national in scope, including an oral 

history project to collect and digitize 

the “stories less told” of Japanese 

Americans who were held against their 

will at the confinement sites. 

The broad range of projects reflect the 

stakeholders’ hopes and expectations 

for the grant program, to educate the 

public and leave a legacy for future 

generations through the preservation 

of both the physical confinement 

sites and the stories of Japanese 

Americans’ experiences during World 

War II. Each of the selected projects is 

highlighted in the subsequent pages of 

this newsletter. 

Congress established the Japanese 

American Confinement Sites grant 

program (Public Law 109-441, 16 

USC 461) in 2006 to preserve and 

interpret U.S. confinement sites where 

Japanese Americans were detained 

during World War II. The law 

authorized up to $38 million for the 

life of the grant program to identify, 

research, evaluate, interpret, protect, 

restore, repair, and acquire historic 

confinement sites in order that present 

and future generations may learn and 

gain inspiration from these sites and to 

demonstrate the Nation’s commitment 

to equal justice under the law. 

Congress appropriated $1 million 

for the 2009 grant program. Of that 

amount, $40,000 was allotted for 

NPS administation of the program. 

However, NPS only needed $30,000 

(amounting to 3% overhead), leaving 

$970,000 for grants awards. 

Public Law 109-441: 

Preservation of Japanese American 

Confinement Sites

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Artwork by George Yano, courtesy of Manzanar NHS November 2009

1

A Report on Fiscal Year 2009 Japanese American Confinement Sites 

Grant Program Awards 

Background

On December 21, 2006, President George W. Bush 

signed Public Law 109-441, which authorized the 

NPS to create a program to encourage and support 

the preservation and interpretation of historic 

confinement sites where Japanese Americans were 

detained during World War II. The Act also directed 

the NPS to consult with a variety of governmental, 

educational, and private nonprofit organizations 

in the development of a grant program to achieve 

the purposes of the Act. On June 11, 2007, the 

House Committee on Appropriations directed 

the NPS to provide a report that described how 

the agency would implement the grant program 

(H. Rpt. 110-187). 

In preparation for a congressional appropriation 

and in response to the directive from the House 

Committee on Appropriations, the NPS engaged 

the public to gain valuable input to assist in the 

development of this grant program. The NPS 

consulted with state, local, and tribal governments, 

other public entities, educational institutions, and 

private nonprofit organizations, including those 

involved in the preservation of historic confinement 

sites. During this process, the NPS engaged more 

than 1,000 individuals representing more than 

40 organizations, governmental entities, and 

academic institutions. They shared their hopes and 

expectations and helped shape the evaluation criteria 

and guidelines for the grant program. 

On May 21, 2008, this information was presented by 

the Department of the Interior, on behalf of the NPS, 

to the House Committee on Appropriations in the 

Report to Congress Pursuant to Public Law 109-441: 

Preservation of Japanese American World War II 

Confinement Sites. This report outlined the legislative 

requirements, project categories, evaluation criteria, 

and program administration guidelines for the grant 

program. 
 Fiscal Year 2009 Japanese American Confinement Sites Grants

Grant Recipient Amount

Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project (WA) $ 112,500

Friends of the Texas Historical Commission (TX) $ 34,400

Hawai`i Heritage Center (HI) $ 58,600

Historical Museum at Fort Missoula (MT) $ 50,000

Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation (WY) $ 292,253

Japanese American Citizens League, Livingston-Merced (CA) $ 25,000

Japanese American Citizens League, Marysville (CA) $ 5,000

Japanese American Citizens League, Twin Cities Chapter (MN) $ 16,000

Japanese American Service Committee (IL) $ 74,620

Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i (HI) $ 43,187

Manzanar Committee (CA) $ 49,400

National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. (CA) $ 18,568

Poston Community Alliance (AZ) $ 25,994

Topaz Museum (UT) $ 48,000

Tule Lake Committee (CA) $ 40,000

United Tribes Technical College (ND) $ 18,919

University of Hawai`i (HI) $ 26,148

University of Hawai`i, Center for Oral History (HI) $ 14,955

University of Idaho (ID) $ 16,456

TOTAL $ 970,000 

National Park Service

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In April 2009, the NPS invited organizations and entities working 

to preserve historic Japanese American confinement sites and their 

history – including private nonprofit organizations; educational 

institutions; state, local, and tribal governments; and other public 

entities – to submit grant applications to preserve and interpret the 

confinement sites where Japanese Americans were detained during 

World War II. 

As defined by Public Law 109-441, eligible confinement sites include 

the ten War Relocation Authority camps: Gila River (AZ), Granada 

(CO), Heart Mountain (WY), Jerome (AR), Manzanar (CA), Minidoka 

(ID), Poston (AZ), Rohwer (AR), Topaz (UT), and Tule Lake (CA), as 

well as other historically significant locations identified in the NPS 

report Confinement and Ethnicity and as determined by the Secretary 

of the Interior, where Japanese Americans were detained during 

World War II. 

The grant program guidelines listed seven major categories of eligible 

activities for the Japanese American Confinement Sites grants to 

benefit one or more confinement sites: capital projects (such as 

construction of new interpretive centers), documentation (such as 

an archeological survey); oral history interviews; interpretation and 

education related to historic confinement sites (such as wayside 

exhibits or educational curricula); preservation of confinement 

sites and related historic resources (such as restoration of historic 

buildings or collections conservation); planning projects (such 

as a resource management plan); and non-Federal real property 

acquisition (allowed only at Jerome, Rohwer, Topaz, and Honouliuli 

with the owner’s written permission, per stipulations of Public Law 

109-441).

Postcards announcing the availability of grant applications and 

guidelines were mailed in April 2009 to a mailing list of more than 

10,000 individuals and organizations, including state, local, and 

tribal governments, public entities, educational institutions, private 

nonprofit organizations (including organizations involved in the 

preservation of historic confinement sites), former internees and their 

families, and individuals within the Japanese American community. 

The Fiscal Year 2009 grant cycle also was announced through the 

NPS grant program website, press releases, and other correspondence. 

The NPS held seven informational meetings in the Pacific West, 

Intermountain, and Midwest Regions, to meet with interested grant 

applicants and address questions about the grant program and 

application process. 

Announcement of Grant Program
Public Law 109-441 - Preservation of Japanese American World War II Confinement Sites

3

The deadline for the submittal of grant applications was June 1, 2009. 

By that date, the NPS received a total of 32 grant proposals, requesting 

nearly $2.4 million in Federal funds. The proposals reflected a wide 

range of project types, including oral history, interpretation, education, 

documentation, planning, preservation, and capital projects. 

The grant proposals were evaluated and awarded in a competitive 

process by the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grants Selection 

Panel. From June 8-10, 2009, the panel of NPS experts from the 

Intermountain, Midwest, and Pacific West Regions, representing 

applicable preservation, history, education, and conservation 

disciplines, met at the Intermountain Regional Office in Lakewood, 

Colorado, to review all eligible applications. 

The panel evaluated and ranked each proposal using the evaluation 

criteria and guidelines that were established based on public 

input. These are listed below. Of the 32 applications received, the 

panel recommended that 19 proposals receive funding. These 

recommendations were forwarded to the Secretary of the Interior, 

who approved $960,000 in funding on July 8, 2009, with a $10,000 

reapportionment on September 17, 2009. All $970,000 in project funds 

were awarded in September 2009.

Grant Selection Process

GRANT APPLICATION EVALUATION CRITERIA

Reviewers were asked to consider the following in evaluating applications:

1. What need does the project address? 

a. How does this project address a critical issue (such as threatened resources or health/safety concerns)?

b. How will the project increase public awareness and understanding of the Japanese American World War II confinement sites?

c. How will the project preserve or improve the conditions of Japanese American World War II confinement site resources? 

2. What impact will the project have and how will the impact be measured? (Examples could be to increase visitation to the site, reach a 

large and diverse audience, remain relevant and available for current and future generations).

3. What is the long-term impact of the project and how will the project be sustained? 

4. How feasible is the project and does the applicant demonstrate the ability to successfully complete the project? 

a. Is the project cost effective?

b. Does the applicant demonstrate an ability to complete the project in a timely, cost effective, and professional manner, ensuring 

that laws and standards 

are met?

c. Has adequate planning 

been completed for the 

project?

5. How much support and 

participation does the project 

have from former internees, 

stakeholders, and/or the general 

public? 

Artwork by George Yano, 

courtesy of Manzanar NHS.
National Park Service

4

FY 2009 Project Descriptions Listed by State

ARIZONA

Recipient: Poston Community Alliance

Project Title: Saving the Stories: Oral Histories and Digitization of Former Poston Detainees and Staff 

Grant Award: $25,994

Site(s): Colorado River Relocation Center (Poston), La Paz County, AZ

Description: Oral histories of former Poston internees, many of whom are in their 90s, will be collected and digitized. 

CALIFORNIA

Recipient: Japanese American Citizens League, Livingston-Merced Chapter

Project Title: Merced Assembly Center Commemorative Memorial

Grant Award: $25,000

Site(s): Merced Assembly Center, Merced County, CA

Description: The two aspects of this effort include five interpretive storyboards, which will be part of a memorial at the Merced County 

Fairgrounds (the former site of the Merced Assembly Center) and a documentary film to be shared with teachers and 

schools.

Recipient: Japanese American Citizens League, Marysville 

Project Title: Arboga Assembly Center Project 

Grant Award: $5,000

Site(s): Arboga/Marysville Assembly Center, Yuba County, CA

Description: To increase awareness of this site that is threatened by development, the project will fund a bronze plaque, dedication 

ceremony and community educational efforts in local schools and community.

Recipient: Manzanar Committee 

Project Title: From Barbed Wire to Barbed Hooks 

Grant Award: $49,400

Site(s): Manzanar Relocation Center, Inyo County, CA

Description: A documentary will be produced telling the story of more than 300 internees from Manzanar who snuck out of camp 

underneath the barbed wire fence, searchlights and armed guards to fish the nearby alpine lakes. This story of freedom 

and the survival of spirit will bring the internment story to a new audience.

Recipient: National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. 

Project Title: Mapping and Building Sites for the Confinement of Japanese Americans during World War II

Grant Award: $18,568

Site(s): 10 WRA Camps, Multiple Counties, Multiple States

Description: An annotated and indexed online database of confinement sites plans, architectural drawings, and artifacts pertaining to 

numerous confinement sites will be created.
Public Law 109-441 - Preservation of Japanese American World War II Confinement Sites

5

Recipient: Tule Lake Committee 

Project Title: Preserving the Tule Lake Stockade & Jail

Grant Award: $40,000

 Site(s): Tule Lake Relocation Center, Modoc County, CA

Description: Historic Structures Report will be produced for the jail and the barbed wire and chain link fences and gates that surround 

the infamous Segregation Center Stockade used to imprison internees who spoke out to protest the injustice of their 

World War II incarceration.

 HAWAI`I 

Recipient: Hawai`i Heritage Center 

Project Title: Administration Building and Fire House Existing Condition Analysis Report

Grant Award: $58,600

Site(s): Honouliuli Internment Camp, Honolulu County, HI

Description: Documenting the last two remaining internment camp structures, the report will provide guidance for future restoration 

efforts.

Recipient: Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai`i 

Project Title: The Hawai`i Confinement Sites Project Traveling Exhibit

Grant Award: $43,187

Site(s): Multiple Sites, Multiple Counties, HI

Description: The exhibit will highlight the internment experience related to 8 confinement sites in Hawai`i to increase public 

awareness—especially within the greater Hawai`i community—of this little known story.

Recipient: University of Hawai`i 

Project Title: Multidisciplinary Research and Education at Honouliuli Internment Camp

Grant Award: $26,148

Site(s): Honouliuli Internment Camp, Honolulu County, HI

Description: Combining oral history and archival research on the internment experience with an archeological field school to 

investigate and record the physical traces of the internment camp will provide broader understanding of the site.

Recipient: University of Hawai`i, Center for Oral History 

Project Title: Captive on the U.S. Mainland: Oral Histories of Hawai`i-Born Nisei

Grant Award: $14,955

Site(s): Multiple Sites, Multiple Counties, Multiple States

Description: The oral histories will focus on the wartime experiences and observations of young Japanese Americans who were 

removed from their places of study, training, or employment on the West Coast of the mainland and incarcerated in 

various assembly centers and relocation camps.

CALIFORNIA (continued)
National Park Service

6

IDAHO

Recipient: University of Idaho 

Project Title: Kooskia Internment Camp Archaeological Project

Grant Award: $16,456

Site(s): Kooskia Internment Camp, Idaho County, ID

Description: This US Immigration and Naturalization detention facility was perhaps the government’s first attempt to use internees as 

a work force. This project will provide preliminary archeological testing, GIS work, and public outreach.

ILLINOIS

Recipient: Japanese American Service Committee 

Project Title: Winning the Peace: An Exhibit on the U.S. Military Intelligence Service

Grant Award: $74,620

Site(s): Multiple Sites, Multiple Counties, Multiple States

Description: A multi-media exhibit will tell the story of Japanese Americans who served in the secret Military Intelligence Service 

(MIS) while their families were confined in WRA internment camps. Unknown for years as a result of military 

confidentiality agreements, Japanese Americans in the MIS were integral to the U.S. victory over Japan.

MINNESOTA

Recipient: Japanese American Citizens League, Twin Cities Chapter 

Project Title: Minnesota Japanese American Oral History Project

Grant Award: $16,000

Site(s): Multiple Sites, Multiple Counties, Multiple States

Description: The oral histories of Minnesota Japanese American elders who were interned in Gila, Minidoka, Topaz, and Tule Lake will 

be video recorded and made available to educational institutions and the broader public.

MONTANA

Recipient: Historical Museum at Fort Missoula 

Project Title: Restoration of Enemy Alien Hearing Courtroom in Post Headquarters at the Department of Justice 

Fort Missoula Alien Detention Camp 

Grant Award: $50,000

Site(s): Fort Missoula Internment Camp, Missoula County, Montana

Description: Restoring the historic courtroom and making the facility meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards will provide 

access to research and interpretation of the WWII internment story.

NORTH DAKOTA

Recipient: United Tribes Technical College 

Project Title: United Tribes/Fort Lincoln Planning Conference

Grant Award: $18,919

Site(s): Fort Lincoln Internment Camp, Burleigh County, ND

Description: The two-day conference will bring together representative stakeholders to discuss potential commemorative and 

interpretive projects related to the former Fort Lincoln confinement site.
Public Law 109-441 - Preservation of Japanese American World War II Confinement Sites

7

TEXAS

Recipient: Friends of the Texas Historical Commission, Inc. 

Project Title: An Untold Story from World War II: Japanese Confinement at Crystal City, Texas

Grant Award: $34,400

Site(s): Crystal City Internment Camp, Zavala County, TX

Description: This multi-pronged project will launch a public awareness effort to increase recognition of this US Department of Justice 

Immigration and Naturalization Service confinement site, develop a virtual tour of the site, document oral histories of 

former internees and community members, write and print travel guides, and promote public access to the site.

UTAH

Recipient: Topaz Museum 

Project Title: Topaz Museum Interpretive Display Project 

Grant Award: $48,000

Site(s): Central Utah (Topaz) Relocation Center, Millard County, UT

Description: Pre-concept and concept design plans for the museum’s interpretive exhibits will be funded.

WASHINGTON 

Recipient: Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project

Project Title: Stories Less Told: Video Oral Histories of Japanese American Incarceration

Grant Award: $112,500

Site(s): 10 WRA Camps, Multiple Counties, Multiple States

Description: War Relocation Authority camps and subjects that are underrepresented in Densho’s online archive will be the focus of 

this project, which will digitally preserve, archive and make these interviews accessible via a web database.

WYOMING

Recipient: Heart Mountain, Wyoming Foundation 

Project Title: Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center

Grant Award: $292,253

Site(s): Heart Mountain Relocation Center, Park County, WY

Description: The award will contribute to the construction of Phase II of the interpretive learning center to provide much needed 

exhibit space.

Artwork by George Yano, courtesy of Manzanar NHS

Yano arrived at Manzanar from Pasadena, California, on 

March 21, 1942. Twenty years old and single, he was one 

of the first Japanese Americans to enter the camp and he 

eventually lived in Block 24. 

Former Manzanar school teacher Mary Smeltzer recalled 

George as a “kibei,” a second-generation Japanese 

American who had been educated in Japan.

At Manzanar, Yano painted dramatic scenes of both life 

in the camp and the landscape in which it was situated. 

Yano left Manzanar for Los Angeles on October 10, 1945. 

He died in Los Angeles in 1990.
National Park Service

8

This map is based upon the 1999 NPS publication Confinement and Ethnicity.

It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of sites. Additional sites may be 

identified as determined by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Confinement Sites Associated with Japanese Americans During World War II 
Public Law 109-441 - Preservation of Japanese American World War II Confinement Sites

9

Upcoming Listening Sessions/Please Join Us

INTERMOUNTAIN REGION

Denver, Colorado

Date: Monday, November 30, 2009

Time: 10am—12 noon

Location: National Park Service

 Intermountain Regional Office 

12795 W. Alameda Parkway

Phone: 303-969-2885

MIDWEST REGION

Chicago, Illinois

Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Time: 7:00 pm—9:00 pm

Location: Japanese American Citizens 

League (JACL) Chicago Chapter

5415 North Clark Street 

Phone: 402-661-1928 (NPS)

 312-728-7170 (JACL)

Website: http://www.jaclchicago.org

Little Rock, Arkansas

Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009

Time: 2:00 pm—4:00 pm

Location: Little Rock Central High School 

 NHS Visitor Center

2120 Daisy Bates Drive

Phone: 402-661-1928 (NPS)

 501-374-1957 (Little Rock NHS)

Website: 

http://www.nps.gov/chsc/index.htm

Directions: http://www.nps.gov/chsc/

planyourvisit/directions.htm

PACIFIC WEST REGION 

Seattle, Washington 

Date: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 

Time: 6:00 pm—8:00 pm 

Location: Densho: The Japanese American 

 Legacy Project

1416 S. Jackson Street

Phone: 925-943-1531, ext. 122 (NPS) 

 206-320-0095 (DENSHO)

Website: www.densho.org/

Los Angeles, California

Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009

Time: 6:00 pm—8:00 pm 

Location: Japanese American Cultural and 

 Community Center

244 S. San Pedro Street, Suite 505

Phone: 925-943-1531, ext. 122 (NPS) 

 213-628-2725 (JACCC)

Website: http://www.jaccc.org/index.htm

Directions: http://www.jaccc.org/

directions.htm

San Francisco, California 

Date: Friday, December 4, 2009

Time: 6:00 pm—8:00 pm 

Location: Japanese Cultural & Community 

Center of Northern California

1840 Sutter Street, Suite 201

Phone: 925-943-1531, ext. 122 (NPS) 

 415-567-5505 (JCCCNC)

Website: http://www.jcccnc.org/ 

Honolulu, Hawai`i 

Date: Thursday, December 3, 2009 

Time: 6:00 pm—8:00 pm

Location: Japanese Cultural Center 

 of Hawai`i

2454 South Beretania Street

Phone: 808-541-2693, ext. 723 (NPS)

 808-945-7633 (JCCH)

Website: http://www.jcch.com/ 

Thank you for your continued interest and participation in the 

grant program. In preparation for the Fiscal Year 2010 appropriation and the next grant cycle, we would like to hear your thoughts 

on this first year of the grant program. We encourage you to 

provide your comments on the components of the grant program 

that you would like to see continued, and any aspects of the grant 

program that you would like to see changed. 

As part of that information-gathering process, the NPS will host 

a series of “Listening Sessions” in early December at several 

locations throughout the country. We invite you to provide your 

thoughts in person at one of these Listening Sessions, which are 

scheduled as follows: 

You may also provide comments directly 

to the NPS via a public comment website 

at: 

http://parkplanning.nps.gov/imro

You may also send written comments 

to the NPS to the address listed below:

National Park Service

Intermountain Region

Japanese American 

 Confinement Sites Grant Program

Attention: Kara Miyagishima

12795 W. Alameda Parkway

Lakewood, CO 80228

ALL COMMENTS MUST BE RECEIVED BY WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2009.
National Park Service

10

Please contact one of the NPS regional representatives if you have any questions about the upcoming 

listening sessions or grant program.

INTERMOUNTAIN REGION

Arizona, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, 

Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Wyoming

Contact: Kara Miyagishima

Phone: 303-969-2885

Email: kara_miyagishima@nps.gov

MIDWEST REGION

Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas,

Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota,

Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan,

Illinois, Indiana, Ohio

Contact: Rachel Franklin-Weekley

Phone: 402-661-1928

Email: rachel_franklin-weekley@nps.gov

PACIFIC WEST REGION

Alaska, California, Idaho, Nevada,

Oregon, Washington, and other

states not listed above

Contact: Tom Leatherman

Phone: 925-943-1531, ext. 122

Email: tom_leatherman@nps.gov

Hawai`i

Contact: Frank Hays

Phone: 808-541-2693 x723

Email: frank_hays@nps.gov

Please visit http://www.nps.gov/history/hps/hpg/JACS/

index.html for information about the grant program.

Thank you for your interest in the Japanese American 

Confinement Sites Grant Program.

National Park Service Contacts 

Artwork by George Yano, courtesy of Manzanar NHS
Public Law 109-441 - Preservation of Japanese American World War II Confinement Sites

11

Layout and design by:

Intermountain Region, Office of Communications

12795 W. Alameda Parkway

Lakewood, CO 80228

November 2009
National Park Service

Intermountain Region

12795 West Alameda Parkway

PO Box 25287

Denver, CO 80225

OFFICIAL BUSINESS

PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $300

FIRST CLASS MAIL

POSTAGE & FEES PAID

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

PERMIT NO. G-83

New NPS “Listening Sessions.”

See inside for more information.