On their second visit to Little Tokyo this fall, Deborah Lott led students through the stories and histories of the neighborhood. Students visited the Japanese American National Museum, where they explored the American Tapestry Exhibit, which displayed 25 stories from Japanese Americans (the exhibit runs through April 17th).

Students heard stories about discriminatory immigration policy affecting the first generation of Japanese immigrants to America, stood inside portions of the original barracks buildings built to house Japanese Americans unfairly imprisoned during WWII, and examined stories of Little Tokyo’s past through its objects. For example, the bicycle in the photo below tells the story of two little girls who lived in Los Angeles during the war: one who was sent to the internment camps with her family and the other, who vowed to keep her friend’s bike safe until they met again, nearly a lifetime later.

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