Seen And Unseen

Juvenile Nonfiction 

     Elizabeth Partridge's Seen And Unseen introduces young readers to one of the more inglorious chapters in American history: the forced imprisonment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor. It does so on two levels.

     One level is descriptions of just horrendous the experience of imprisonment was.  Families were given very short notice to leave their homes and businesses, taking only what they could personally carry.  They had to abandon their pets!!!  They were imprisoned without a trial.  Initially they were housed in horse stalls reeking of urine and manure.  A second move took them into a concentration camp in the desert surrounded by barbed wire punctuated by guard towers.

     The second level concerns three photographers who created a visual record of what was going on.  Dorothea Lange was hired by the government to show that the prisoners were being treated humanely.  She strove instead to show the humanity and decency of her subjects and how hard they worked to make the best of a horrific situation.  Many of her pictures were impounded.

     Toyo Miyatake was one of the prisoners.  He'd been a professional photographer before being imprisoned.  Determined to document everything so such a crime against humanity could never happen again, he smuggled in his camera lens.  A friend built a camera body out of scrap wood.  Film and dark room chemicals had to be smuggled at great risk.

     Ansel Adams was hired by the prison camp director in 1943 to take pictures that would combat prejudices as resettlement of prisoners began.  He framed his pictures carefully to show only positivity.  His goal was to show their fellow Americans that Japanese Americans were patriotic and trustworthy.

     Readers are reminded that even in a nation with democratic ideals civil rights violations can happen.  We must name them and speak out against them.  And, unlike in the 40s when photography was cumbersome and expensive, "We each have in our pocket a tool for social justice that earlier generations could never have dreamed of."

On a purrrsonal note, it was a relatively sunny day today.  Eugene treated me to breakfast at Governors.  Then we went on a drive, stopping at yard sales.  We each found some treasures.  (Jules)

They got me six jingle balls.  (Tobago)

A great big shout out goes out to Eugene.

Tobago and Jules Hathaway 

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