Galt exhibit shares forgotten history
‘STOP THE PRESSES’ OFFERS STORIES OF JAPANESE CANADIANS AFTER SECOND WORLD WAR
Accounts of the injustices meted out to Japanese Canadians are no longer news to most Canadians. Southern Albertans are well aware of how West Coast families were stripped of their homes and property, then shipped away to remote mountain villages.
But what happened later? After the Second World War ended, how did those Canadian citizens adjust to their new realities?
Those stories — from seniors now living in the Lethbridge area as well as their non-Japanese neighbours — have become the focus of an ongoing oral history project. “Stop the Presses,” a new exhibition at the Galt Museum, is designed to start those conversations.
“The whole story of the post-war era, the way history has been written and heritage has been commemorated, so much of it has been about the victimization of the Canadians of Japanese descent and the recovery after that,” explains world history professor Darren Aoki, originally from southern Alberta but now teaching at Plymouth University in England.
“While that story is fundamental, it gets so much attention that other stories are not coming forward,” he says.
“A whole lot of history glosses over this postwar time and jumps straight to Japanese Canadians being in a good place now.”
So Aoki, professor Carly Adams at the University of Lethbridge and a team of student researchers have launched their Nikkei Memory Capture Project here.
“One of our goals with this project is to facilitate community partnerships, and we’ve been really fortunate to collaborate with the Galt Museum, Nikka Yuko (Japanese Garden) and the Nikkei Cultural Society,” says Adams, part of the Centre for Oral History and Tradition at the U of L.
The museum was the setting Sunday for the launch of the project’s next phase, seeking out more stories from more southern Albertans who lived through those post-war years.
But its newspaper clippings-based display, focusing on the Lethbridge Herald and the log-running Raymond Recorder, covers most of the 20th century. While some photos and stories in “Stop the Presses” speak of agricultural or community success, other headlines reflect the racism and xenophobia whipped up by wartime politicians.
“There is some really dark material there.” says Aoki.
Adds Adams, “There’s a lot of celebratory items there, too.”
The exhibit will remain on view at the museum — no charge — through the summer. It’s intended to stir memories, start conversations and capture many of the untold stories.
Adams says two dinners at the Japanese Garden, next Thursday and July 18, will also be part of that process. After a pre-set bento dinner, those attending will hear stories from well-known southern Albertans speaking about business (July 13) or sports.
The speakers, she says, will touch on retail, restaurants, religion and farming as well as such pursuits as judo, karate, curling and golf. The garden staff (403-328-3511) is handling reservations and tickets.
During Nikka Yuko’s 50th anniversary celebrations, she adds, a “memory capture booth” will also be opened on-site by the student researchers.
Japanese immigration to Canada began in the 19th century, Aoki points out, though it was later restricted for many years. As an emerging economic power, Japan sent businessmen to many parts of the world.
So for families with deep southern Alberta roots, he suggests, the political aftermath of the Second World War may have been particularly significant.
Not only had the Japanese Empire been demolished, but Canadians saw the British Empire dissolving as well.
The Galt Museum exhibit will remain on view until Sept. 30.
Follow @DMabellHerald on Twitter