JANM to Open Contested Histories: Preserving and Sharing a Community Collection on October 19

LOS ANGELES, CA – The Japanese American National Museum (JANM) will present the exhibition, Contested Histories: Preserving and Sharing a Community Collection, on view from October 19, 2024 – January 5, 2025.  The online press gallery is available at janm.org/press/images/contested-histories. 

During World War II, Japanese Americans incarcerated in America's concentration camps demonstrated their resilience, ingenuity, and creativity, from crafting necessities like furniture and tools to creating works of art. In 2015, thanks to the efforts of community organizations, leaders, and activists like the Japanese American History: Not For Sale Facebook page, the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, and actor George Takei, the auction was canceled. JANM was entrusted with the safekeeping of the Eaton Collection, an important collection of some 400 items made by Japanese American incarcerees.

People around the United States have since helped JANM fill in the gaps in the historical record by identifying makers and telling the stories of artifacts from the collection as it toured the country. Now the exhibition, enhanced with these new findings, returns to JANM, where many of the recently restored artworks are on view for the first time. 

“We look forward to exhibiting Contested Histories with the wealth of new information about these important objects. This exhibition would not be possible without the generous and sustaining help of the public. Their stories are outstanding and substantial contributions to the national repository of Japanese American history and the historical record,” said Ann Burroughs, JANM President and CEO.

Contested Histories: Preserving and Sharing a Community Collection is funded, in part, by a grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program. Additional support is provided by George and Brad Takei, the Earle K. & Katherine F. (Muto) Moore Foundation, and Richard Sakai. The media sponsor is The Rafu Shimpo.

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About the Japanese American National Museum (JANM)

Established in 1985, JANM promotes understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by sharing the Japanese American experience. Located in the historic Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, JANM is a center for civil rights, ensuring that the hard-fought lessons of the World War II incarceration are not forgotten. A Smithsonian Affiliate and one of America’s Cultural Treasures, JANM is a hybrid institution that straddles traditional museum categories. JANM is a center for the arts as well as history. It provides a voice for Japanese Americans and a forum that enables all people to explore their own heritage and culture. Since opening to the public in 1992, JANM has presented over 100 exhibitions onsite while traveling 40 exhibits to venues such as the Smithsonian Institution and the Ellis Island Museum in the United States, and to several leading cultural museums in Japan and South America. JANM is open on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday–Sunday from 11 a.m.–5 p.m. and on Thursday from 12 p.m.–8 p.m. JANM is free every third Thursday of the month. On all other Thursdays, JANM is free from 5 p.m.–8 p.m. For more information, visit janm.org or follow us on social media @jamuseum.