Capital Region Cares Capital Region Cares 2017-2018 | Page 27

pened,” Takei says. “That’s why exhibits like this, narrated
by those who were actually there, are so important. Sadly,
the story of how fear and ignorance led this country to in-
carcerate my family and over a hundred thousand others is
still relevant today.”
TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION
To share information about this time period with students,
the museum has developed the “Time of Remembrance”
program. One component of the program includes the
museum supplying classroom-based resources to local
schools. Volunteer docents from Uprooted! visit classrooms
and use audiovisual slides and personal stories to bring his-
tory to young people.
The museum offers a “traveling trunk” full of tangible
items for the children to see, and they come with corre-
sponding curriculum for teachers to start conversations
about the items in their classrooms. The artifacts comple-
ment the lesson plans and help students understand what
life was like for the incarcerated families. The 1940s vintage
trunk suitcase includes barbed wire, a washboard, an evac-
uation notice, identity cards, photographs and origami pa-
per. Suggested activities include discussions on citizenship,
the Constitution and the process of government redress.
Chuck Kobayashi, a retired Sacramento superior court
judge, presents his story to students through the Time of
Remembrance Program. Kobayashi was 8 years old when
he was incarcerated, and was released when he was nearly
12.
He was sent to the Tule Lake segregation center, in Sis-
ki