Comments on: The Stonework of Manzanar

By: ryan

ryan — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:57:27 +0000

Thanks for the link. There are some interesting garden photos at that site.

By: buenorific

buenorific — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 02:43:08 +0000

There is a book about gardens made during wartime called ‘Defiant Gardens’ by Kenneth Helphand. He talks about gardens in extreme situations as being an assertive act of resistance representing a desire for survival. The lasting stonework at Manzanar is definitely a testament to survival, transformation, hope and a marker of history otherwise too easily forgotten.

Helphand has a website with pics: http://www.defiantgardens.com

By: ryan

ryan — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 05:01:40 +0000

Yeah, pretty desolate and sad.
I would like to have seen some things in bloom. When I was there the trees were looking like they needed water. Apparently, it was full of fruit trees on irrigation, but then LA took all the water, gave some back during the internment camp years, and then took it back.
I’m sure it must have been some comfort to build things. I think I would have been bitter about building things in an internment camp, though.

By: Susan Tomlinson

Susan Tomlinson — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:06:06 +0000

I wonder if working with the stone gave someone comfort. I know that building things always offers me solace; I hope that instead of being a burden, it offered the same for the person or persons that built those structures.

Thanks for sharing this.

By: lostlandscape(James)

lostlandscape(James) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 06:15:09 +0000

I’ve only stopped at Manzanar once, before they rebuilt some of the site as an interpretative exhibit. I remember the sentry post and something that might look like a garden to an archaeologist. I think it was April, maybe May. Away from the garden areas I spotted two trees. One of them was a plum(?) in full pink bloom. I took a few photos of it with Mt. Williamson(?) in the background. The black and white photos weren’t great, but there were a couple slides that I liked and showed to some people. Encountering the trees was amazing, and I’ve looked for the slides on an off for a few years now. They’re somewhere around this house…

By: Brad B

Brad B — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:08:59 +0000

I remember driving past Manzanar as a kid with my family and thinking how incredibly desolate and sad it seemed. I read the book in a class later on and couldn’t shake that image from my mind. I didn’t remember the quote about the rock gardens. And thanks for the pics.