“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana.
A temporary display recounting the personal stories of Japanese Americans incarcerated at Topaz, Utah, during World War II can be found on the third floor of Southern Utah University’s Gerald R. Sherratt Library until March 6. Entitled “Topaz Stories: Remembering the Japanese American Incarceration,” the exhibition is presented by The Friends of Topaz in cooperation with the Utah Division of Arts and Museums.
The Topaz War Relocation Center is located in western Utah, near Delta. It was founded in 1942 in response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 along with other internment camps in western United States. During this period, over 120,000 Japanese Americans were evicted from their homes near the West Coast to be incarcerated in these camps. At the Topaz site alone, 11,000 citizens were held captive until its closure in 1945.
In 2013, the Friends of Topaz group was found
ed to promote and raise funds for the development of the Topaz Museum, which opened in 2017, and bring awareness to the experiences of those incarcerated through images and narratives.
Between the organization’s inception and 2025, around 100 stories have been shared through the Topaz Stories Project.
“As a writer, I had never wanted to write about the camps myself, as I was born after the war and felt I did not know enough about what it had really been like to accurately portray the experience,” said Ruth Sasaki, Topaz Stories Editor. “So the Topaz Stories Project gave me a way of shepherding stories from actual survivors into the public record. There are stories about resilience, friendship, family separation, loss, sacrifice, boredom, work, romance, resettlement.”
From this collection, stories such as “Pomp and Circumstance” by Yoneo Kawakita, “Toy Story” by Jon Yatabe and “Friends Forever” by Yae Kami Yedlosky have been selected for the Utah Arts & Museums’ Traveling Exhibition Program to be presented at SUU.
“I find it a great honor to be able to partner with these organizations and take Topaz Stories to the rest of Utah,” said Fletcher Booth, Traveling Exhibitions Coordinator at UA&M. “I think this is such an important story and the Topaz Museum is one of my favorite museums in Utah.”
Because it is an essential part of Utah’s history, each panel at the Gerald R. Sherratt Library and Topaz Museum highlights this story.
“We really want to make sure our campus community, our students especially, understand this part of Utah history, which is in many ways forgotten,” said Outreach Librarian and Department Chair of the Sherratt Library Phil Roché. “I think it’s really critical as Americans and as humans that we realize that this kind of thing has happened and we don’t wanna see it happen again.”
The library hosts rotating exhibitions on the third floor and in the basement with a goal of connecting students with the local community and world at large. Following the Topaz Stories exhibition, the library will showcase the written works of Kolob Canyon Review contributors. Students wishing to share their work are invited to contact Phil Roché.
“I would love to put more student work on display in the library,” added Roché. “If students want to talk to me, they absolutely can reach out in contact.”
Roché’s door is always open, and his contact information can be found on the library’s website.
Author: Fanny Felixine
Editor: Heather Turner
Photos by Heather Turner, edited by Gannon Lovisa
life@suunews.net
