The Alameda Free Library will be displaying a new exhibit to honor the history of Japanese Americans in Alameda. The exhibit, “Overflowing with Hope: The Hidden History of Japanese Americans in Alameda,” documents the wartime removal of the Japanese community through images, testimonies, artifacts, and long-hidden stories. There will be an opening reception on May 17 at 4 p.m. in the Stafford Community Room.

At the turn of the century when Japanese immigrants arrived in Alameda, they built a thriving Japantown along lower Park Street, bustling with bath houses, a sewing school, bicycle shops, a photo studio, and centers of worship, both Methodist and Buddhist. These immigrants worked as gardeners and houseboys, dry cleaners and cooks.

Their children, born in the 1910-30s, were Americans, overflowing with hope for the future. Japanese Americans of this era wore their patriotism proudly — whether on roller skates or baseball diamonds. But in 1941, when war broke out between the United States and Japan, the trajectory of this community changed overnight.

On Feb. 2, 1942, Alameda, with its Naval Air Station, was classified as a Zone A Restricted Area — forcibly removing all “Axis Aliens” completely out of Alameda within just three weeks. Thus, the Issei non-U.S. citizens of Alameda became the first Californians removed from their homes under Executive Order 9066.

“By examining the churches, the sports teams, and the pioneering businesses of one island community, we hope to shine a light on the long-term impact of the incarceration of Japanese Americans across religious, social, and generational divides,” said Jane Chisaki, Director of the Alameda Free Library, in a statement. “You can’t understand Alameda’s history without knowing the story of this marginalized community.”

The exhibit is just one part of a three-year initiative, the Alameda Japanese American History Project, funded by the National Parks Service’s Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant program to research, document, preserve, and conduct oral histories with the Japanese Americans of Alameda who lived through the era of evacuation, incarceration and post-war return.

“Today, the Alamedans who experienced the incarceration are almost gone. Five of the people we interviewed passed away during our research,” said Jo Takata, long-time historian of the Alameda Japanese American community. “Their home movies, documents, and photos were at great risk of being lost forever. This project will ensure they are preserved for future generations.”

The photos, videos, audio, and texts from this project will be archived in the Densho Digital Repository and the Internet Archive. Research from this project will result in new articles in the Densho Encyclopedia. The library invites learners of all ages to experience these primary source documents and first-person testimonies never before available to the public or online.

The exhibit is especially timely because the month of May is Asian-American, Native Hawaiin, and Pacific-Island-American Heritage Month. Doors at the opening ceremony will open at 3 p.m. for viewing. The exhibit will be available for viewing until July 15. Tickets for the opening ceremony are available at https://tinyurl.com/bdf7jp49 and at the door. The Alameda Free Library is located at 1550 Oak St.