The Activities and entertainment at Heart Mountain Relocation Center Photographs, 1942-1943, is a collection of photographs depicting the activities of Japanese individuals in an internment camp in World War II. The entire collection is relatively small, with only 11 photographs. I was surprised by the size of the collection, as I had previously thought that collection with finding aides always consisted of tens or hundreds of items—I realize now that the research value of a collection does not depend on its size.
All of the photos are available to view online, so I was able to look at each photograph. The photos confirm what I had thought when I read the description in the finding aide; they depict a skewed view of life at Heart Mountain Relocation Center. The photos reflect the narrative intentions of the photographer, who would be someone in a position of authority at the internment camp. Pastoral landscapes and photos of Japanese individuals at leisure give the impression that life at Heart Mountain was a decent, even enjoyable experience. The finding aide itself gives minimal context for the photos, and someone who did not know about the history of Japanese internment would be misled by this collection of photos.
The narrative presented by these photos makes it appear as though relocation to an internment camp did not displace tens of thousands of Japanese people from their homes and lives in America. These images are an interpretation of history—just because they are photographs does not mean they depict the lived reality of Japanese people at that time. The power structure behind this collection is apparent, as the person with access to a camera could pick and choose what to document, and thus what future generations would see and learn about Heart Mountain.
Power relations distort our understanding of history, and this collection of photographs serves as a reminder of the overwhelming silence that is present in documented history. The narrative that is silenced in this collection is that of hardship endured by Japanese Americans who were denied their civil liberties, and the struggles they faced at Heart Mountain and beyond as they rebuilt their lives. The missing space in this narrative can be filled in with the other primary sources, like the firsthand accounts of those who were interned. Opposing narratives emerge from different places within the hierarchy of power, and that power structure also impacts the preservation (or loss) of material.
The narrative presented by this collection is so narrow–do you think a finding aide could link to related material that offers an alternative narrative, or is that beyond the scope of a finding aide?
Hi Dianna, I also enjoyed exploring the Guide to Heart Mountain Relocation Center. I really like your interpretation on the collections, since it captures the tricky part of photographs that does not reflect the object’s point of view, but rather photographer’s. The photographs hardly show the downsides of life at the center, but focus more on the entertainment and enjoyable activities, including peaceful scenery of farmlands. If we from a narrative solely based on the collections, we can not really imagine a life of hardship that is derived from political and historical struggle. I liked the way you explained how the power structure narrowed down the possible historical narratives that could be formed from primary sources, by creating (or removing) certain collections to the viewers. Nice job!!