A Barbed History: Raising Awareness about Hawai‘i’s Incarceration Camp During WWII
An archival photo captures the vast footprint of the Honouliuli National Historic Site, which served as an incarceration camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. According to newly appointed Superintendent Christine Ogura ’93, this very photo played a role in rediscovering remnants of the camp in 2002, including an old aqueduct that dates back to the era of the Waiahole Ditch and the Oahu Sugar Plantation.
Photo credit: RH Lodge/Hawai‘i’s Plantation Village
Tucked away in a dry gulch on O‘ahu’s ‘Ewa plain about three miles northwest of Pearl Harbor, Honouliuli National Historic Site is a lesser-known, but very important, part of U.S. history. Working to elevate understanding and awareness of Hawai‘i’s largest and longest-operating World War II prisoner of war and incarceration camp is newly appointed Superintendent Christine Ogura ’93.
She assumes this responsibility at a pivotal time in the site’s history – 10 years since President Barack Obama ’79 proclaimed its designation as a national monument. Ogura has jumped in and embraced the challenge of shaping the site’s future and educating future generations about its importance.
Ogura returns to Hawai‘i after a lengthy career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, most recently in Oregon. She began her career with U.S. Fish and Wildlife in its Honolulu office, then moved on to Florida. She was the chief of staff for the National Wildlife Refuge System headquartered in Virginia, before accepting a new position as assistant regional director in Oregon. Each successive move took her a little further from Hawai‘i and her beloved outdoors, so even while she was not intending to leave the service, she did have an eye on opportunities to both return to Hawai‘i and to the field.
“I’m a firm believer that you’re meant to be where you’re meant to be,” says Ogura. “It was a professional, but also personal decision. I always associated Japanese-American internment with the West Coast, but when I learned that this happened here, where I was born and raised, it really made the story so much more personal. I remember thinking, ‘this could have happened to my mom or me, had I been born a generation earlier.’”
One of the biggest challenges that Ogura is currently working out is public accessibility to Honouliuli. The park is not open to the general public because the Park Service does not own land that connects the site to a public roadway. “It’s not like Pearl Harbor, the other national park on O‘ahu, where people can drive up and get to it. We are landlocked,” explains Ogura, whose own office is located at Pearl Harbor Naval Base.
Physical remnants of the original site are also limited. “When the military left and the camp closed in 1946, they actually took everything down. We do still have some historic features, like concrete slab foundations of the mess halls, but there are no facilities. It’s deep in a gully.”
The 10th anniversary of the site’s designation will begin with a kickoff of the park’s general management plan, which will guide the direction of the park and answer big questions about public access, visitor use and historic interpretation. “We’re really excited to launch that this year. It’s going to be a multi-year process that at the end of the day will make those major decisions. We’re excited to work with our communities and partners to understand what’s important because these are public lands. These are America’s lands with a very important story to tell about American history and what happened to those who were held here,” says Ogura.
Anniversary observances will kick off this spring with a series of events – in-person and virtual – that highlight different aspects of the park’s history. There are art exhibits, film screenings, special tours, poetry workshops and book signings planned. Ogura is also hoping to start a volunteer program with opportunities to clear vegetation around historic structures and provide educational opportunities through in-service volunteer work.
Ogura is quick to point out the Punahou connections to Honouliuli, from federal support from President Obama and Senator Brian Schatz ’90, as well as from alumni community partners who have been critical as researchers and non-profit partners, including Jane Yanagihara ’48 Kurahara, who was instrumental in relocating the camp. “I may be superintendent, but my job is to shepherd the park on behalf of the American public, to listen, learn and understand what’s important to the descendants of those incarcerated, as well as our communities, students and the next generation,” says Ogura. “Hopefully something like this never happens again in our country, but I want to make sure people are aware of the history, and I welcome the Punahou community to continue to be engaged, educated and help us spread the word.”