The unprecedented terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 resulted in much concern about our
national security. Six weeks after the attack, Congress passed the USA Patriot Act into law, which
made it easier for the government to conduct surveillance against suspected terrorists. However,
some people felt that the new laws eroded our civil liberties and the right to privacy.
More recently, the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 included provisions that could be
interpreted to allow the indefinite detention without trial of U.S. citizens arrested on U.S. soil.
To what extent should we be willing to give up some of our rights for the greater good? Is it
better to be safe than sorry? Should we ever detain someone based on personal characteristics
or associations rather than on his or her actions?
What steps should we take to protect our country?
What similarities do you notice among the images? Differences? What is the tone and feel of the images? How does what you see and feel in an image align with other information
you know? What would you guess about the artist who created each image? Read more to learn about the artists and their images.
What can an image tell us?
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Roger Shimomura
was born in Seattle in 1939. As a young
child, he spent two years incarcerated in Minidoka, Idaho,
one of ten concentration camps for Japanese Americans
during World War II. Shimomura’s work often focuses on the
experiences of Asian Americans and the challenges of being
“different” in America. Since 1969, Shimomura has lived in
Lawrence, Kansas, where he has served as an art professor
at the University of Kansas. The artist Roger Shimomura is
represented by the Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle.
1.
Not Pearl Harbor
. Courtesy of Roger Shimomura. A painting created
by the artist after September 11, 2001.
2. A painting from the series
An American Diary
. Painting depicts
Roger Shimomura when he was a young boy in Minidoka.
Courtesy of Roger Shimomura.
Dorothea Lange
(1895–1965) was one of the 20th
century’s most prominent documentary photographers.
She is perhaps best known for her work documenting the
Great Depression. Based in California when World War II
broke out, she was one of the first photographers to work
for the federal government. Beginning in March 1942, she
documented the mass removal of Japanese Americans and
their incarceration in temporary “assembly centers.” Many
of Lange’s photographs from this period were censored
because the U.S. government wanted to control how the
mass removal and incarceration were portrayed.
1. A class of San Francisco school children reciting the
Pledge of Allegiance
before Japanese American students leave for a detention facility.
1942, Dorothea Lange. Courtesy of NARA.
2. Hayward, California Japanese American family waiting for the bus to take
them to a detention facility. 1942, Dorothea Lange. Courtesty of NARA.
3. Japanese American store in Oakland, California closed after “all persons
of Japanese ancestry” were ordered to leave. 1942 Dorothea Lange.
Courtesy of NARA.
Ansel Adams
(1902–1984) was perhaps the most
important landscape photographer of the 20th century.
He is known for his work documenting the untouched
wilderness, especially in national parks and other areas
of the American West. In the summer of 1943, Adams
was invited by his friend, newly appointed director of the
Manzanar War Relocation Authority Center, Ralph Merritt,
to photograph life at the camp. Adams’ goal was to stress
the good American citizenship of the inmates and to show
their ability to cope with the situation.
1. Baton practice at the Manzanar War Relocation Authority Center.
1943, Ansel Adams. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
2. Managers of the co-op warehouse in the Manzanar War Relocation
Authority Center. 1943, Ansel Adams. Courtesy of Library of Congress.
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AP Photo/Chao Soi Cheong
