History will not be erased so long as the stories live on.
Hello to you listening in Seattle, Washington!
Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more to visit history) for Story Prompt Friday and your host, Diane Wyzga.
Recently I read a comment on Substack about the changes being wrought by 47 and his criminal cabal to erase - as much as obscenely possible - evidence of slavery in America thereby making history disappear. Yes, many have tried to make history disappear but the stories, the oral histories, the voices, the art, books and photographs remain. Not all - but enough to stand witness.
One such book, The Ghosts of Segregation, was authored by our very own Whidbey Island writer and photographer, Richard Frishman who saw what 45's administration was doing and had to do something to defy it.
Unexpectedly, while researching the Ghosts of Segregation, I found my way to the Panama Hotel in Seattle which some of you may remember as the hotel featured in the novel, The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford.
The Panama Hotel remains the repository of personal belongings stored there by some of the 8,000 people of Japanese ancestry who were forced from Seattle and into internment camps (known as War Relocation Centers) set up in Midwestern states as a result of Executive Order 9066. They had one week’s warning.
Eventually, over 120,000 men, women and children of Japanese ancestry were forced from their homes, businesses and farms on the Pacific Coast in a systematic, government sponsored exile of innocent people. Most of them were United States citizens. The incarceration turned US citizens into refugees in their own country.
But the story is still alive staving off erasure. A grant from the National Park Service helped researchers document, catalogue and map the contents of suitcases, trunks, and boxes, over 8500 items left in the hotel basement. Because of the historical value of the Panama Hotel, it was designated as a National Treasure in 2015. Today the Panama Hotel serves as a living time capsule, a shrine to a community, and the site of the Japanese American Museum of Seattle.
Story Prompt: How might we change the future with understanding and compassion so as to defy fear and hatred of The Other? Write that story and tell it out loud!
And for inspiration check out the many links in the Episode Notes to access the Ghosts of Segregation as well as the Panama Hotel.
The Ghosts of Segregation by Richard Frishman
Click HERE to listen to the author, Rich Frishman tell you about his project in a short interview
Click HERE to access a book discussion about The Ghosts of Segregation at University of Virginia
Click HERE to visit: My Favorite Places - Panama Hotel - Ralph Munro former Secretary of State
Click HERE to read about the Japanese American Museum of Seattle
Click HERE to read National Trust for Historic Preservation; Asian American & Pacific Islander History; Panama Hotel; Histories of Loss & Resilience
Click HERE to visit Panama Hotel - Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Click HERE to visit the Panama Hotel & Owner/Caretake Jan Johnson’s scrapbook
Click HERE to visit the Mysteries of the Panama Hotel
Click HERE to read The Many Lifetimes of the Panama Hotel - Stories of the Unjustly Imprisoned
You're always welcome: "Come for the stories - Stay for the magic!" Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, share a 5-star rating and nice review on your social media or podcast channel of choice, bring your friends and rellies, and join us! You will have wonderful company as we continue to walk our lives together. Be sure to stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website, check out the Communication Services, arrange a free, no-sales Discovery Call, and stay current with me as "Wyzga on Words" on Substack.
Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team
Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts
Music: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music
ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved. If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing and attributing it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.