From Inside and Outside the Barbed Wire: New Mexico's Multicultural
World War II Internment Stories

Saturday, April 21–Sunday, April 22, 2012
10th Anniversary of Santa Fe Internment Camp Marker Dedication
100th Anniversary of New Mexico Statehood
Wordng from the Marker Plaque:

At this site, due east and below the hill, 4,555 men of Japanese ancestry were incarcerated in a Department of Justice Internment Camp from March 1942 to April 1946. Most were excluded by law from becoming United States citizens and were removed primarily from the West Coast and Hawai'i.
     During World War II, their loyalty to the United States was questioned. Many of the men held here without due process were long time resident religious leaders, businessmen, teachers, fishermen, farmers, and others. No person of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. was ever charged or convicted of espionage throughout the course of the war.
      Many of the internees had relatives who served with distinction in the American Armed Forces in Europe and in the Pacific.
      This marker is placed here as a reminder that history is a valuable teacher only if we do not forget our past.


Left: Attendees at the Symposium.




Below: Professor Richard Melzer.