Honouliuli National Monument: Important Window to Dark Past
Establishment of the monument at the site of Hawaii’s largest and longest-used World War II internment camp ensures that its story is shared with future generations.
Seventy-three years ago last week, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, a decree that ultimately led to the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans in camps across the country.
It鈥檚 an ugly chapter in our nation鈥檚 history, one experienced in highly personal and painful ways by individuals, families and communities in many areas, but particularly so in Hawaii. Given the singular role that the Pearl Harbor attack played as the predicate to the executive order and the subsequent incarceration of 400 civilians and 4,000 prisoners of war in the Honouliuli camp here on Oahu, 9066 is an important part of our state鈥檚 history and its anniversary, cause for solemn remembrance.
President Obama鈥檚 welcome signature Tuesday of the designation of the Honouliuli National Monument ensures that 鈥渢he difficult story of the internment camp鈥檚 impact on the Japanese American community and the fragility of civil rights during times of conflict鈥 will be shared for generations to come, as the White House said in a statement.
World War II-era view of the Honouliuli Internment Camp.
National Park Service
Despite the camp鈥檚 status as the largest and longest-used such facility in Hawaii, the canyon site, a short distance from Pearl Harbor, had been neglected and forgotten by many since its closure in 1946 until it was rediscovered in 2002. A delegation of individuals representing the Japanese American community in Hawaii traveled to Washington at the request of the White House to take part in Tuesday鈥檚 private signing ceremony.
The president announced the establishment of the monument last week on the anniversary of 9066 and in conjunction with a new initiative to encourage young students and their families to visit national parks and other federal lands over the coming year.
Though the newly designated monument here won鈥檛 have formal discovery or interpretive programs for a while yet, families who live here or who plan a visit to the Aloha State will want to make it a destination for the future. Like the experiences at Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, it is sure to provide a window into a dark period in our past that offers valuable, enduring lessons for our future.
Read the complete text of President Obama’s proclamation on the establishment of the Honouliuli National Monument
