The Corner of Lincoln and Venice

The Corner of Lincoln and Venice:

Stories from the Venice Japanese American Memorial Monument

The Corner of Lincoln and Venice

Written and Illustrated by Lindsey Kojima

In April of 1942, over 1,000 Japanese Americans were forced to gather on the corner of Lincoln and Venice Boulevards in Venice, California. 4 months earlier on December 7th, 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and America entered World War II. People of Japanese descent, even if they were born in America, were seen as spies and a threat to the United States. President Franklin D. Roosevelt then signed Executive Order 9066 on February 19th, 1942, which led to the removal of 120,000 Japanese Americans living in the west coast to be sent to internment camps.

The internees could only take what they could carry. Then they piled into a bus that took them on the 200 mile trip to Manzanar. The journey took over 8 hours.

Here are the stories of a few internees.

“Instead of being worried about where we were going, I was obsessed with the fact that I had parted with my constant companion, my pet dog, Boy. For a fifteen year-old, that was unforgettably tragic.”

-Arnold Tadao Maeda
From Santa Monica

When Arnold’s family arrived at camp, they were given cotton bags to stuff with hay to make mattresses to sleep on. Then they were led to their small barracks that were shared between two families. Their rooms only had one lightbulb, an oil burning heater and no running water. The bathrooms and showers were in a separate building and had no privacy.

Despite the harsh conditions Arnold still had fun. Arnold was 15 years old when he arrived at camp. While in camp he met Mr. Lou Frizzell who was a drama teacher from UCLA.