
Historical Memories of the Japanese American Internment and the Struggle for Redress
Alice Yang Murray
This book analyzes how the politics of memory and history affected representations of the World War II internment of Japanese Americans during the last six decades. It compares attempts by government officials, internees, academics, and activists to control interpretations of internment causes and consequences in congressional hearings, court proceedings, scholarship, popular literature, ethnic community events, monuments, museums, films, and Web sites. Initial accounts celebrated internee loyalty, military patriotism, postwar assimilation, and "model minority" success. Later histories emphasized racist "concentration camps," protests inside the camps, and continued suffering within the community.
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About Alice Yang Murray
Reviews for Historical Memories of the Japanese American Internment and the Struggle for Redress
Andrea Geiger
Montana: Magazine of Western History
"By weaving the story of the JACL and other groups and individuals through nine chapters and six decades, Yang Murray illuminated the ever-changing historical reverberations of this singular event ... Yang Murray is to be commended for her willingness to reframe familiar and seemingly stable historical material."
Karen M. Inouye
American Historical Review.
"Historical Memories stands strong in simply demonstrating how Japanese-American perception of Japanese-American history has matured and unfolded over generation. The work warrants examination by those interested in memory studies and generational change."
John H.Barnhill
Canadian Journal of History
"In unique, insightful ways, Murray examines the much-studied exile and incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII and the redress movement that followed...Murray has presented an accessible, nuanced, and provocative account that is valuable to both scholars and the broader public."
CHOICE "This book presents a comprehensive and multidimensional analysis of the wartime internment of Japanese Americans and their long struggle to seek redress..."
Journal of American History "Yang Murray ably reconstructs the strategic and ideological debates over not only the case for redress but the language and content of museum exhibitions, memorials, and documentaries."
Journal of American Ethnic History