By Terry Miller
In Sierra Madre there is a unique volunteer spirit, perhaps quite unlike any other city.
As we honor our Veterans Thursday, a small group of students is learning about not only the effects war can have on those of us at home but also the intolerance man can for his fellow man under extreme conditions.
By volunteering for this project these students are learning not only the history of the garden but what happened to Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor – and what became of many of those who were sent to internment camps as a direct result of the military action.
Japanese-American internment was the move and internment by the United States government in 1942 of about 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called “War Relocation Camps,” in the wake of Imperial Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. The internment of Japanese Americans was applied unequally throughout the United States. Japanese Americans who lived on the West Coast of the United States were all interned, while in Hawaii, where more than 150,000 Japanese Americans composed over one-third of the territory’s population, 1,200 to 1,800 Japanese Americans were interned. Of those interned, 62% were American citizens.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt(FDR) authorized the internment with Executive Order 9066, issued February 19, 1942, which allowed local military commanders to designate “military areas” as “exclusion zones,” from which “any or all persons may be excluded.” This power was used to declare that all people of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the entire Pacific coast, including all of California and most of Oregon and Washington, except for those in internment camps. In 1988, Congress passed and President Ronald Reagan signed legislation which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The legislation said that government actions were based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership”. The U.S. government eventually disbursed more than $1.6 billion in reparations to Japanese Americans who had been interned and their heirs.
The lesson learned is that of tolerance and how things like prejudice can overwhelm a nation. The similarity of the anti-Muslim racism today is not lost on these young minds.
Teachers such as Helen Pontarelli are helping the students realize that tolerance of our differences is critical and compromise is the only solution to such matters.
The Upper Campus Service Club was started about five years ago by a parent who wanted the new middle school ( currently under construction) to have some of the same opportunities as established middle schools in the Pasadena Unified School district – the current project of the service club is the care and maintenance one of the Sierra Madre’s true historic monuments.
The original Japanese garden was built in 1931 by the parents of Japanese American students. The carefully constructed and peaceful garden vandalized and completely destroyed by adults who reacted to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
The sixth grade class of 1995 read about Sierra Madre history and discovered an article in the Los Angeles Times documenting a garden at their school. Upon this discovery, they decided to restore it, undertook a massive fundraising and labor effort to do just that. The students held car washes, bake sales, wrote letters, and sold origami cranes among other things to fund the reconstruction. They also performed the physical labor digging the bridge out of the mud and excavated the garden.
Enter Japanese-American community member, Mr. Lew Watanabe. Lew became a central figure for the ambitious project. As a landscape gardener and unique Watanabe designed the new garden and led the reconstruction.
Through sales and donations, students were able to raise enough money to rebuild the garden. On Sunday, February 4, 1995, the Japanese Garden was officially dedicated. The ceremony included 17 members of the class of 1931 and their teacher. The dedication ceremony included Taiko drumming, dancing, and a karate demonstrations.
The garden was named – Garden of Goodwill.
This year, Soozee has a small team of dedicated volunteer parents helping with Service Club,
which has allowed them to start a new Garden Club–work includes maintaining the Japanese Garden properly, and caring for our Native landscaping. Amy Whist, a parent at Sierra Madre School and a landscape architect will also be working with the children and volunteers as well.
The volunteer parents and teachers are currently working to develop a program to train some of these students into garden docents. With the lower campus’s new Native Garden going in, this landscape may become a showcase for water-wise gardening and use of California Natives.
The group is working with Sue Hoskins on this project idea in collaboration with Dave Depinto of the SGV Municipal Water District and Lisa Novick with Theodore Payne Outreach.
With the help of teacher Helen Pontarelli, a group of approximately 20 students are learning about the history of the Japanese Zen Garden and Koi pond at the lower campus Elementary school.
Perhaps one of the most important lessons these children (and adults) learn is that of tolerance.
The destruction of the Japanese Garden after Pearl Harbor was hate-filled anger toward Japan and Japanese Americans who bore no ill will on the United States. The damage to a peaceful place had a significant impact on the children at Sierra Madre Elementary School.
Soozee began helping 4 years ago, taking the leadership role 3 years ago.
SMMS SC is still budding and growing along with its students.
This year, Soozee has a small team of dedicated volunteer parents helping with Service Club,
which has allowed us to start our new Garden Club–work includes maintaining the Japanese Garden properly, and caring for our Native landscaping. Amy Whist, a parent at Sierra Madre School and a landscape architect will also be working with the kids and volunteers as well.
The group is working to develop a program to train some of these students
into garden docents. With the lower campus’s new Native Garden going in, this landscape may well become a showcase for water-wise gardening and use of California Natives.
The garden is not open for public viewing, so if you would like to arrange a visit, please call the school. If you are on campus, stop by the visitor’s office first for assistance.
You can contact the school at 626.836.2947
Posted by Terry Miller
on November 10, 2010. Filed under Featured.
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TTS
October 31, 2011 at 12:14 pm
While the lessons of what were done during the period of Japanese internment camps is extremely important Veterans day is set aside for veterans. In the war that the internment camps took place in 416,800 American young service members died, not counting the thousands who were maimed and wounded and countless more (like my grandfather an infantryman in the Pacific war) suffered deep psychological wounds. This day for the living and Memorial day for those past are their days.