Free Veterans Day Exhibitions at the Presidio of San Francisco
In honor of Veterans Day and the 10-Year Anniversary of the MIS Learning Center, visit two thought-provoking military history exhibitions in the Presidio of San Francisco. Each examines the role of the Presidio and Japanese American soldiers and civilians in WWII. Open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11 and 12, noon-5 p.m.
Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Historic Learning Center
The National Japanese American Historical Society (NJHAS) celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the Military Intelligence Service (MIS) Historic Learning Center, reconstructed Building 640. Here, in a former airplane hangar, the U.S. Army established what would become the MIS language school in November 1941 in anticipation of war with Japan. It secretly recruited primarily Nisei students from within the Army to learn how to translate Japanese military language. Members of this first class went on to serve in the Pacific, translating documents, intercepting intelligence, and questioning POWs, using their knowledge of culture and language to a strategic advantage. Experience this moving chapter in Presidio history through displays like a reconstructed classroom and the personal stories of individual Nisei – second-generation Japanese Americans – soldiers. Learn about the Internment Camps, where some of the families of these very soldiers were imprisoned.
Hours: Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11 and 12, noon-5 p.m.
Cost: Free (Open House)
Location: 640 Old Mason Street, San Francisco, 94129
Information: For more information visit https://njahs.org/
EXCLUSION: The Presidio’s Role in WWII Japanese American Incarceration
EXCLUSION is a special exhibition at the Presidio Officers’ Club that examines the role the Presidio of San Francisco – then the location of the headquarters of the Fourth Army and Western Defense Command – played in the unjust incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans, purportedly in the name of national security. Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt issued Civilian Exclusion Orders from the Presidio. The exhibition invites visitors to investigate the choices—both personal and political—that led to this dark chapter in American history and asks what lessons we have learned as a nation. EXCLUSION was developed in partnership with Fred T. Korematsu Institute and the National Japanese American Historical Society.
Hours: Saturday and Sunday, November 11 and 12, noon-5 p.m.
Cost: Free
Location: Presidio Officers’ Club, 50 Moraga Avenue, San Francisco 94129
Information: For more information visit https://presidio.gov/special-exhibition-exclusion
Event Links:
Presidio Officers’ Club Open | The Presidio (San Francisco)
Categories: Press Release
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 