Nearly 80 years after the end of World War II, a site in Colorado that once held thousands of Japanese Americans opened its doors this week as the country’s newest national park.
The Department of the Interior reopened what was Camp Amache on Thursday, nearly two years after President Joe Biden signed the park into law following a multiyear bipartisan effort by Colorado lawmakers.
“As a nation, we must face the wrongs of our past in order to build a more just and equitable future. The Interior Department has the tremendous honor of stewarding America’s public lands and natural and cultural resources to tell a complete and honest story of our nation’s history,” Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
The Amache National Historic Site — previously called the Granada War Relocation Center — was one of 10 concentration camps established during WWII that detained Japanese Americans in the wake of the 1941 Pearl Harbor attack. Over 10,000 Japanese Americans passed through the concentration camp during its brief existence, according to the National Park Service.
Visitors to the park will be able to walk through a historical cemetery and reconstructed WWII-era buildings, such as barracks, a recreation hall, guard tower and water tank.
Camp Amache was the smallest of the concentration camps erected in the 1940s. The vast majority of its detainees came from West Coast cities. Life within the prison camp was difficult due to overcrowding, poor wages and lack of privacy. At its peak, the camp held 7,310 prisoners of Japanese descent, making it the 10th largest city in Colorado at the time, according to the NPS.
News of the opening comes just days ahead of the Day of Remembrance of Japanese American Incarceration during World War II, observed annually on Feb. 19.
In conjunction with the University of Denver, the park will offer a service to help family members find the barracks of individuals who were incarcerated at Camp Amache.
“Amache’s addition to the National Park System is a reminder that a complete account of the nation’s history must include our dark chapters of injustice,” National Park Service Director Chuck Sams said in a statement. “To heal and grow as a nation we need to reflect on past mistakes, make amends, and strive to form a more perfect union.”
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