Join Survivors, dignitaries, and community leaders as we commemorate the forced removal of the first Japanese Americans to be evacuated from the West Coast during World War II. Shortly after the signing of Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, Public Proclamation No. 4 launched the forced evacuation and detention of Japanese American residents on a 48-hour notice. The Japanese Americans of Bainbridge Island were the first group to be evacuated to a partially constructed camp at Manzanar in the Southern California desert.

Speakers at the event include Governor Jay Inslee (a resident of Bainbridge), survivor Frances Kitamoto Ikegami, 4 student leaders from Woodward Middle School, as well as a roster of community leaders. The Commemoration will conclude with a reading of the 276 names on the Exclusion Memorial Wall. View the full Program here.

The event will be live-streamed, and people are asked to view the program remotely if possible.