I'm a 63year old Mom & Grandmother who wanted a blog of everyday things for everyday people. Please feel free to comment...the sensible opinions of others are always welcome...I also have 2 more blogs, One more serious, and my blog for cat lovers (4cats for cats)





June 28, 2009

Japanese Internment Camp at Idaho



I am just putting this on my blog for you Kerry..i am sure you will find out lots more..it seems a fascinating place...i would love to help you in your search...i love finding out things about places like that....so interesting, I look forward to seeing what you find.....i put this on because it shows some of the gardens.

Garden at Minidoka Internment Camp near Jerome, Idaho Photo: National Parks Service
Kenneth Helphand has written a book about Defiant Gardens, which he defines as “gardens created in extreme or difficult environmental, social, political, economic, or cultural conditions.” The book is another one I have not read, and I missed Helphand’s February presentation at the University of California. What I can contribute is this: visit his website. My first written encounter with war gardens was an article by Anna Hosticka Tamura (2004) published in Landscape Journal. Tamura stresses that internment camp gardens have been neglected by scholars of landscape architecture. Writing about the effects of the camp’s garden, she argues that “the acts of creating and maintaining the ornamental gardens buffered the psychological and physical trauma of the incarceration experience.”
For the most part, I garden for the sheer pleasure of touching soil and leaf. But sometimes I garden because I know watering, deadheading, planting, and eating will steady my mind. The garden can transform a traumatic space into a more bearable place and disruption—however temporarily—into a more peaceful state of mind.

3 comments:

  1. Joy this is a great post!! I haven't seen a picture of any of the gardens, thank you for posting it, and for posting the information. This place is amazing, I hope you will be able to come and visit us someday and see it for yourself. :)

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  2. Amazing! You found what I have been looking for! Thank you. I will be looking into it more. Like you I love the history of it all. I think Americans are ashamed of what was done here and don't want to talk about it much. The closer you live to a camp area the worst it is! You have to learn from the past and never do it again. Send me what ever you find and I will share what I find. Thanks, Joy! You sparked my zest for learning more about the internment camp. Love, Kerry

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  3. I think it must be so interesting the history that place must have..very sad history in many ways...but War is War i suppose..the information had a couple of links with it..but when i printed it they didn't show up...i will send you the whole page if i can find it...I will start searching myself now as well...its good to do things together, i may use a different search engine to you thats why it came up..will go on it again.

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