2023-04-19, BB- J. Stone: Constructing Context Before & After Internment Through Japanese American..

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TITLE: Constructing Context Before and After Internment Through Japanese American Incarceration and the Historic 20th Century Redman-Hirahara Farmstead

Speaker: Jacob Stone, PhD candidate, Anthropology, University of California Santa Cruz

Wednesday April 19, 12:10 - 1 p.m.
101 2251 College (Archaeological Research Facility)

Sponsor: Archaeological Research Facility

Abstract: This presentation covers my research on the archaeological context of Japanese American incarceration in the United States during WWII using the Redman-Hirahara Farmstead. Built in Watsonville, CA at the turn of the 20th century, this property showcases one family’s unique journey navigating this period: the Hirahara family, who moved into the Victorian farmstead in 1941. Following the war, the Hiraharas returned to their farm in Watsonville where they offered another Japanese family, the Hanes, to stay in their carriage barn. Excavations of the farmstead in 2005 revealed a collection of artifacts pertaining to this extended legacy of the house, presenting new lines of evidence for how incarceration may shift consumer activities, alter material representation, and reveal avenues for exploring the post-incarceration time frame. Additionally, I trace this period ethnographically through the multitude of Japantowns that were established in the Northern California Bay area throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. These intertwined family stories, paired with ethnographic accounts from the region, reveal the complexities, challenges, and triumphs the Hiraharas, and other Japanese American civilians faced upon their return to their previous livelihoods, homes, and community.

00:00 Introduction & Land Acknowledgement
03:04 Talk
45:05 Questions and Answers