Looking at Center, picnic : 3-25-45, 1:15 PM

Hoshida, George [ bio ]

Description

1 drawing on paper : ink ; 6 x 9.5 in.

Ink drawing of a mountain with Gila River Relocation Center at its base in Rivers, Arizona on March 25, 1945, 1:15 PM. Large conical mountain at center of drawing with mountain range extending to the right. A small road leads around the base of the mountain to the left where the camp resides on a flat plain. Rows of barracks are visible with mountains in background. Horizontal lines represent the sky.
Drawing 97.106.2EV on verso of same sheet.

Caption
Hoshida was one of the seven to nine hundred Japanese Americans in Hawaii who were incarcerated in Justice Department internment camps. He was acutely aware of the importance of recording his experiences through the pen and ink drawings and watercolors he made during his incarceration in five different locations. While Hoshida did not attempt to make any overt commentary on the interment, his drawings and sketches provide a continuous and detailed account of daily activities and his long journey from Hilo, Hawaii, to the desert of Arizona.

Inscription
Written in black ink, bottom right: Looking at Center [underlined] / Picnic / 3-25-45 1:15 PM. [underlined]

All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (hnrc@janm.org).