A Voice from Japanese Internment Camps (2022 Power of Voice  Series)

The Harriet Beecher Stowe House bears witness to generations joining their voices for truth in the nations struggle toward freedom and humanity for all.

Harriet Beecher Stowe House

Farewell to Manzanar opened many eyes to a racist and unjust chapter in American history. Discuss its relevance today with Dr. Ikegami.

Voices for Truth Literature Discussion Group

In 2024 our monthly discussion series will have a new name, Voices for Truth. We’ll focus on moments in American history when eloquent voices arose, often from the margins, to address important issues of social justice in culture and society.

<p>The Japanese internment camps in the US during World War II are a part of American history that was largely overlooked until about three decades after the war.  We’ll discuss a voice that emerged from one of the camps, Manzanar in California.  That voice belongs to Jean Wakatsuki Houston, who was born in the US but at the age of seven in 1942 was uprooted with her family and sent to Manzanar. </p><p>We’ll consider how she portrays the humanity of her family and others as they coped with the injustice of the camp.  Like <em>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</em>, <em>Farewell to Manzanar</em> opened many eyes to a racist and unjust chapter in American history.  We’ll also consider the possible relevance of the book to racial issues today.</p><p><strong>Discussion Leaders:</strong></p><ul><li>Dr. John Getz, Professor Emeritus, Xavier University</li><li>D﻿r. Robin Ikegami, Associate Vice-President for Instructional Services, Sacramento City College</li></ul><p><strong>Suggested reading: </strong></p><ul><li>Chapters 1-2, 11-12, 20, and 22 from Jean Wakatsuki Houston and Jim Houston, Farewell to Manzanar (1973)</li></ul><p>See full series information and links to readings at <a href="https://www.stowehousecincy.org/discussiongroup2021-623760.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.stowehousecincy.org/discussiongroup2021-623760.html</a></p>

<h2>About the  series</h2><h3>2022 Discussion Series Theme: Power of Voice</h3><p>This year the monthly literature discussion series from Harriet Beecher Stowe House will continue with a new theme: “The Power of Voice.” We’ll focus on moments in American--and, in one case, world—history when eloquent voices arose, often from the margins, to address important issues, usually related to social justice, in culture and society.</p><p>Harriet Beecher Stowe exemplifies the power of voice.  During her eighteen years in Cincinnati (1832 -1850), she discovered her voice as a writer, and in 1851, she decided to devote it to the anti-slavery cause.  Horrified by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, she wrote to editor Gamaliel Bailey:  “Up to this year I have always felt that I had no particular call to meddle with this subject [slavery], and I dreaded to expose even my own mind to the full force of its existing power. But I feel now that the time has come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak.”  The result, of course, was <em>Uncle Tom’s Cabin</em>, the bestselling blockbuster that awakened many Northerners to the horrors of slavery and helped create the change of heart that would allow the Union to stand firm when the South seceded over slavery.</p><p>We’ll study the writings of many authors from the 19th and 20th centuries to determine</p><ul><li>how they discovered their voices,</li><li>the forms they chose for expressing their voices,</li><li>the needs both personal and societal to which they put those expressions,</li><li>the effects their work had,</li><li>how we can develop and enlist our own voices in service of our own values.</li></ul><h3>Discussion Format</h3><p>Discussions will take place on Zoom from 7-8 pm on the first Wednesday of each month February - May and September - December.  The leader will again by Dr. John Getz, Professor Emeritus, Xavier University, either by himself or with a co-leader, depending on the topic.   </p>

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