The Wartime Roots of Jenny’s Politics

American Woman

This flow traces how Jim Shimada’s wartime incarceration and later silence shape Jenny’s understanding of identity, injustice, and political inheritance.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Family Sent to Manzanar A Family Sent to Manzanar from "American Woman". A Family Sent to Manzanar A Sudden Displacement Jim Shimada and his parents are sent to Manzanar after the United States enters World War II.

A Family Sent to Manzanar from "American Woman". A Family Sent to Manzanar A Sudden Displacement Jim Shimada and his parents are sent to Manzanar after the United States enters World War II.

A Family Sent to Manzanar A Sudden Displacement Jim Shimada and his parents are sent to Manzanar after the United States enters World War II. The government’s action disrupts their home, work, and plans without granting them the ordinary protections of a fair process. A Child’s Future Altered The experience becomes part of the family history Jenny will later have to discover for herself.

The Camp Transfer The Camp Transfer from "American Woman". The Camp Transfer A Draft Refusal Jim is beaten amid conflict over the loyalty oath and transferred to Camp for Incorrigibles.

The Camp Transfer A Draft Refusal Jim is beaten amid conflict over the loyalty oath and transferred to Camp for Incorrigibles. He later refuses the draft, linking any possible service to the return of his family’s home and livelihood. Political Formation Punishment turns a previously unpolitical young man into someone shaped by the state’s coercion.

A Story Learned at School A Story Learned at School from "American Woman". A Story Learned at School History Outside the Home Jenny learns about Japanese American incarceration in a Japanese school rather than from her father.

A Story Learned at School from "American Woman". A Story Learned at School History Outside the Home Jenny learns about Japanese American incarceration in a Japanese school rather than from her father.

A Story Learned at School History Outside the Home Jenny learns about Japanese American incarceration in a Japanese school rather than from her father. She sees the history as a key to understanding Jim, even as he resists discussing it. Politics Begins at Home The discovery pushes Jenny toward political questions and widens the conflict between them.

The Daughter’s Political Path

The Daughter’s Political Path A New Community Jenny leaves home, studies politics, and meets William, whose language and activism become central to her life. Her father’s history of resistance does not bring them together; instead, they disagree over what resistance should mean. Inheritance Without Agreement Jenny’s politics grow from a history Jim has tried to leave behind.

A Later Return to the Camp A Later Return to the Camp from "American Woman". A Later Return to the Camp Revisiting the Landscape Jenny brings Jim back to Manzanar, where the mountains make the site’s history newly physical.

A Later Return to the Camp from "American Woman". A Later Return to the Camp Revisiting the Landscape Jenny brings Jim back to Manzanar, where the mountains make the site’s history newly physical.

A Later Return to the Camp Revisiting the Landscape Jenny brings Jim back to Manzanar, where the mountains make the site’s history newly physical. Jim objects to the trip, then chooses to join the people setting up the reunion. Memory in the Present The visit allows inherited history to become a shared place, without requiring a final resolution between them.

1942

Spring 1943

When Jenny is fourteen

After Jenny moves to Berkeley

Several years after Jenny’s release