Topaz Oral History Project miscellaneous interviews: Jane Beckwith material

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i 1 te o op z n n ver a e en t f his t r' c • Do thy r tt TH _. U~1ENT A 'r T PAZ ERECTED IN 976 J ar se A c n, o the B -centennial d 'IDPAZ 942 19h6 I I te 1m n t C n t r for man dignity, there w s enacted on thi s ot, _,o n ion and its people. i of n internment camp, complete with or 8,000 of th 10,000 Americans of Japan e uprooted from their homes and in· erned by victim of a rzart me hysteria, racial ani osity, j r.;.sprudence. n iples of tndivi ual fre dom and justi e r, allow this to happen--and then recogniz1ng a tion, has n soften the effect of this action and mak w ol., . nera tion of a people, whose lj.fe and spirit wa shattered a d ma r d, wo· ld w cour gJ and hope and perserverance, fight back to bli h t mselve in t e American tream of life, and were successful, ar ac o ufficient historical i portanc t be remembered forever. o, in this Bi centennial vear of 1976--w dedicate this site as a minder - at u e lessons of histor.y need always ~'a heeded in forging a more perfect form of human ... la tiono;)h · p " a-ce: My husband, Claud H Pratt, moved to Topaz in July of 1943. Our son, David and I moved there to be with him in November 1943. While at Topaz, I worked in the Personnel Office and the Finance Office. Claud worked as Head Counselor in the Welfare Dept. and a Ass' t Relocation Offi cer (the latter had to do with getting jobs and arranging for living places for the residents who wished to leave and relocate w~inly in the East~ He accompanied the last trainload of people to leave Topazo They were the elderly and infirm, and were taken to hospitals, etc. in California.