Japanese American Exhibit – Smithsonian National Museum in Washington D.C.

Smithsonian National Museum of American History has their own mission in collecting inspiring and broadening the people’s understanding of the United State’s nation and the many peoples in this nation. The museum holds more than 3 million artifacts/national treasures, and everything that originates the United States of America. The National Museum of American History opened to the public in January 1964 but it was first introduced as the Museum of History and Technology. In addition, there is a Smithsonian Institution that is an educational and research institute, and also an associated museum complex.

The Smithsonian Institution was founded by the British scientist James Smithson and he left a will that the Smithsonian estate will go to the United States government and create an “Establishment for the increase and diffusion of Knowledge among men.”

In 1987, a while after the post-World War II, Smithsonian National Museum of American History decided to add an Exhibit of Japanese Americans during the battlefront. Because they were put in intern camps during World War II, this was acknowledging to the Japanese American citizens that it was their mistake. In addition, as it is the Smithsonian mission to let the nation understand the American history, it was important to add the battalions and infantries the Japanese Americans were involved in during the War. Especially the 100^th battalion and the 442^nd Infantry was the Japanese American motivation to prove that they were American and that they were part of the Star Spangled Banner.

In the present, there is an online site of the Japanese American Exhibit, and it says that: “This site explores a period of U.S. history when racial prejudice and fear upset the delicate balance between the rights of a citizen versus the power of the state.” And it goes on explaining the experiences of the Japanese Americans who were placed in detention camps, and there are case studies of the experiences and in the decision-making and citizen action under the U.S. Constitution. The Exhibit mainly consists of interactive galleries that has images and music that relates to the Japanese American detention camps and also their culture and experiences in the United States. In addition, there are important and popular texts pertaining the detention camps and first-person accounts that is called “Story Experience.”

This is important to the Japanese Americans and this exhibit also benefits and impacts other minority groups because this shows that discrimination is against the Constitution, and it shows freedom and equality to all ethnic groups.