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Blossoms in the Desert: Topaz High School Class of 1945August 20, 2003SAN FRANCISCO (August 20, 2003) - The Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) is sponsoring a reading, book signing, and reception to celebrate the publication of a book, “Blossoms in the Desert” – Topaz High School Class of 1945. The program is scheduled for 3:00 PM on Saturday, September 6, in the Issei Memorial Hall at JCCCNC (1840 Sutter Street, San Francisco). “Blossoms in the Desert” contains excerpts of personal interviews conducted with sixty members of a class who completed their entire three years of high school education in a concentration camp in Topaz, Utah, during World War II. The young people of today could not imagine a life with no movie theaters, no department stores nor shopping malls, no cars, and most of all communal living. Daily life meant lining up to use the washrooms, three meals a day in mess halls, waiting for a tub to hand scrub their weekly laundry, no privacy in the showers or open toilet stalls, etc. Can today’s teenagers survive without telephones, cell phones, television, video recorders, computers, washing machines, microwave ovens, dishwashers, refrigerators, washers, and dryers? Could they live with their entire family in a single room with no kitchen, bathroom, or even running water? ProgramFormer students of this class will read their bittersweet memories of spending their teenage years in a school with no campus in makeshift classrooms, shared books, a mostly uncredentialed faculty, and Science courses without labs, all within the confines of barbed wire enclosing their one mile square camp in the Utah desert. They will relate stories of emulating a high school social life with dances, sports, religion, clubs, student government, school newspapers and yearbooks, actors’ groups, and other activities. Speakers will be Darrell Y. Hamamoto of the Asian American Studies department at UC Davis, who served as editor of the book, and Diane Matsuda, director of the California Civil Liberties Public Education Program (CCLPEP) which provided the grant which made this book a reality. Special PresentationOne of the sweetest memories of wartime was the music of the Big Band era and the dancing they enjoyed. In addition to the reading, Jitterbug demonstrations will be given by some of these jivesters and they invite everybody in the audience to join them to learn these simple steps. It’s a celebration of all events Bring your entire family and friends to this special event detailing the lives of teenagers who were isolated for three years from the greater community. Autographed books are available to the general public for $15. A special preview price of $14 will be offered to all persons attending the program. JCCCNC requests RSVPs in order to appropriately accommodate all attendees. Please call 415.567.5505. About the JCCCNCEnvisioned by the Japanese American community, JCCCNC will be an everlasting foundation of our Japanese American ancestry, cultural heritage, histories and traditions. The JCCCNC strives to meet the evolving needs of the Japanese American community through programs, affordable services and facility usage. The JCCCNC is a non-profit community center based in San Francisco. For more information, please contact: Jill Shiraki, Director of Programs |
