New
Exhibit on Local Farming by Japanese Americans
Chunks of earth
fly into the air as a horse-drawn plow passes by, a man weighs down the back of the plow
so it cuts into the fertile ground. A few scenes later we see a Japanese-American farmer
getting off his farm machine. The Nipomo Mesa is visible in the background. This
1930’s film footage of Oceano is only one of the rare sights in store for visitors to
the South County Historical Society’s new exhibit on the lives of Japanese-American
farmers in this area.
The
exhibit, entitled “Japanese-American Life in South County, Farmers, Friends and
Baseball, 1900-1950,” opens in three phases at the IOOF Hall in Arroyo Grande,
starting Saturday, February 2nd at 2 PM. The first phase visually depicts the history of
local farming families and their cultural pastimes. Guest Speaker Shizue Seigel, author of
In Good Conscience, will talk about the role of neighbors in helping to save farms along
the West Coast when local Japanese Americans were forced to “resettle” in
internment camps during WW II. Signed copies of her book will be available. The book
includes stories about SouthCounty residents who helped their neighbors during and after
the war. Ms. Seigel’s grandparents farmed land in Pismo in the early 1900’s.
The second
exhibit phase, opening March 8, will focus more closely on Japanese-American baseball, an
important part of their culture especially during this period. The third exhibit phase,
opening April 5, will focus on POVE, the Pismo Oceano Vegetable Exchange. The entire
exhibit runs through May.
Each
exhibit opening will feature guest speakers, films, and hundreds of photographs never
before seen by the general public. A mainstay of the exhibit will be a three-dimensional
model depicting family farming plots of Japanese Americans in the ArroyoGrandeValley and
on coastal farms from Avila to Oso Flaco.
Local
Stories, Local Support
“It’s
an exhibit full of local stories,” according to Craig Rock, exhibit director,
“from historic film footage provided by the Hayashi family, to family photographs
provided by the many families who answered a questionnaire sent out by the historical
society, to the history of the Japanese-American cultural center on Cherry Street.”
The three-dimensional model is the result of a collaborative effort of Arroyo Grande
resident Lillian Sakurai, Berkeley architect Margaret Ikeda, and the exhibit research team
of the South County Historical Society. Ms. Sakurai, who was raised on Avila and Pismo
farms before WW II, has collected information and photos on Japanese-American life in SouthCounty. Ms. Ikeda grew up in a local farming family and graduated from ArroyoGrandeHigh
School before moving to the Bay Area.
Along with
the exhibit a living history project will give visiting Japanese Americans a chance to
record their recollections of SouthCounty life if they haven’t already done so.
Visitors are encouraged to bring along copies of their family histories and photographs.
Photographs will be scanned at the IOOF Hall and the originals returned immediately.
Visitors can also view the histories of other participants.
The exhibit is
not only about the lives of the farming families who still work local lands. Most Japanese
Americans on West Coast farms lost their leased lands during the WW II internment camp
period. Some returned seeking work in this area after the war and temporarily lived at the
cultural center and Japanese language school buildings on Cherry Street in the Village of Arroyo
Grande . The still-standing cultural center now hosts Boy Scout and judo club meetings but
it was, as exhibit photographs will help show, a center for weddings, funerals, Japanese
films and plays, annual picnics and other events and classes.
The March 8
exhibit opening will highlight baseball players from Arroyo Grande, Pismo, San Luis Obispo
and other areas who participated in the Japanese American leagues at the time. Kerry Yo
Nakagama, who recently wrote, Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese-American Baseball,
will be special guest. There will also be a special showing of the film American Pastime,
which he helped produce. The baseball exhibit is coordinated by James Statler, who wrote
his graduate thesis at UC Santa Cruz on the Japanese American baseball in the internment
camps.
The April
5th opening will feature the history of the Pismo Ocean Vegetable Exchange (POVE). This
agricultural exchange is one of the few remaining cooperatives that united
Japanese-American farmers in SouthCounty in their successful effort to compete with
larger agricultural concerns throughout the (and abroad?). "Vard Ikeda and Tom Ikeda
will present the program on Pove. More details on this program will follow.
The IOOF
Hall is located at 128 Bridge Street, Arroyo Grande. Exhibit hours are Fridays and
Saturdays,