Preserves and shares history of the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans to promote equity and justice today.
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ALT Black-and-white photo of Japanese Americans in 1942 crowded around a wooden table, filling out ballots and papers with pens. Overlaid orange text reads “What was voting like behind barbed wire?” The Densho logo, two interlocking concentric circles, appears at the bottom.
ALT White text on a dark slate background, with the Densho logo at top. The text reads: “Like now, voting rights in 1942 were determined by the state of residency. The War Relocation Authority’s solicitor, Philip Glick, instructed camp directors that incarcerated Japanese Americans could not register to vote in states where their camp was located. However, voters already over the age 21 years of age who had registered before their incarceration could submit absentee ballots in those jurisdictions. A notary public was required to process such ballots — the WRA legal staff in each camp performed such services.” An orange arrow points right, indicating more slides.
ALT Black-and-white photo of a crowded room in an incarceration camp, where people in winter coats, knit caps, and headscarves wait in line holding papers and forms. A woman in the foreground holds a closed umbrella. A bare light bulb hangs from the ceiling, and two small framed pictures hang on the wall behind the crowd.
ALT White text over a darkened, faded black-and-white photo, with Densho’s logo at the bottom. The text reads: “Today, the United States is not in a declared state of war. Yet the same challenges present in 1942 have reemerged in this year’s midterm election, with the Trump Administration and its allies launching accusations of voter fraud and placing restrictions on voting. The challenges facing Americans to participate in elections underscores the fragility of American democracy. Just as in 1942, attacks on voting rights now undermine the democratic values advanced by the Constitution. Read more in our recent Catalyst article at densho.org/catalyst.” Orange hand-drawn underlines mark key phrases, and the link is underlined in orange.
ALT Black-and-white close-up photograph of a large group of incarcerated men walking toward the camera across open ground, with barracks in the distance. A uniformed guard in a peaked cap and jacket stands at the left edge of the frame, looking off to the side. At the center, a bald man in a light striped robe looks ahead with a serious expression. Around him are men in work shirts, undershirts, and wide-brimmed hats, some wearing glasses, and one carries a small bag. More uniformed men are visible in the background.
ALT Black-and-white photograph of a group of men walking across bare dirt ground beside a tall wooden plank fence and a chain-link gate, with a wooden guard tower rising behind the fence. On the left, men in work clothes, undershirts, and brimmed hats walk in a loose line. On the right, uniformed guards in caps walk among a tightly packed group of men in light-colored shirts and undershirts, some of whom are being assisted by other incarcerees and are being held up by their arms. Utility poles stand in the background.
ALT Black-and-white photograph of a crowded jail cell with barred doors along the left wall and a barred window at the back. Several uniformed guards stand among cots and bedding. One guard in a campaign hat and holstered sidearm leans over a shirtless man in an undershirt sitting on a bunk, while two other guards stand watching with batons at their sides. Another man sits against the back wall, and a third guard stands at the right edge of the frame, looking toward the camera.
ALT Poster for the documentary film “Defiant to the Last: Resistance at the Tule Lake Jail,” directed by Emiko Omori and produced by Barbara Takei. The design looks like an old sepia photograph with yellowed borders, taped to a dark background of jail bars. In the photo, two men in a suit and a uniform with a peaked cap, both motion-blurred, drag a man between them across a grassy field. He is on his back, wearing a white shirt, his arms held up by the men. Behind them are a chain-link fence, a barracks building, and a parked vehicle. A pink typed caption label in the lower right reads: “-47- Defiant to the last, a lay-down striker is taken forcibly from the stockade jail to the special Department of Justice train by Border patrolmen. 6-24-45.” A laurel badge at lower left reads “Official Selection, Films of Remembrance 2026.” The web address www.defianttothelast.com appears at the bottom.
ALT Densho logo and text reading “Happy 100th Birthday, Jim Hirabayashi!” over a photo of a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Jim Hirabayashi, third from right, wears a light blue jacket and holds oversized scissors with former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta, who stands in the middle in a dark overcoat. A red ribbon stretches across the front of the group. Around them stand about a dozen older men and women in jackets and coats, including a Buddhist priest in white and orange vestments and a man in a dark suit at far right. Trees and a parking lot are in the background. Caption: “Jim Hirabayashi (third from right) and former Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta (middle) cutting the ribbon.” The photo shows the Feb. 16, 2009 dedication of a memorial plaza at the Fresno assembly center site.
ALT Densho logo and text reading “To learn more about Jim Hirabayashi, watch his Densho oral history interviews and read our 2026 ‘Nisei Notables’ feature on the Densho Catalyst at densho.org/catalyst.” Photo of Jim Hirabayashi, an older man with gray hair, glasses, and a mustache, seated with his hands clasped in a blue-and-pink floral short-sleeved shirt and blue pants. A small microphone is clipped to his shirt. He looks off to the side during a Densho interview, with a video camera in the foreground showing his image on its screen and the back of the interviewer’s head at left.
ALT Cover of Gidra, April 1972, a vintage Asian American monthly newspaper. A purple, black, and gray illustration shows a large stylized bird with a bold eye above two figures, a man in a hat and glasses and a woman. A poem about two people and a “new harmony” runs down the lower left.
ALT Cover of Gidra, January 1971, printed in red ink on aged tan newsprint. A large red outline of the women’s symbol is filled with collaged black-and-white photos of Asian American women and children. Bold red letters at the bottom spell “LIBERATION.”
ALT Cover of Gidra, October 1970, with a green-tinted photo in a green and black frame. A group of Asian American young people sing and play music outdoors, one holding a tambourine and another a microphone. Faint green poem text about holding the moment overlays the sky.