Mary Matsuda Gruenewald’s Story— Japanese Internment: The Nisei Experience
I was interested in learning more about what the experience was like for Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps within the US. Specifically, the Nisei experience, the second generation (Japanese Americans) whose parents had immigrated from Japan (Isseis). During my research, I discovered the eye-opening memoir of a Nisei woman, Mary Matsuda Gruenewald, that inspired my visual art project.
Mary describes her childhood of innocence and contentment living on a small berry farm on Vashon Island, WA. After Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan, her family had to burn their treasured belongings before the FBI arrived to avoid any connection to Japan. They soon were forced to leave Vashon Island and their livelihood. My intention with these symbolic paintings is to shed some light on the anguish and issue of loyalty that haunted Mary, one of many Niseis at the internment camps.
Mary and her family were interned at several camps and at one point were sent to Tule Lake Camp near Klamath Falls, Oregon.