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NPS Fonn 10-900 USDIINPS NRHP Registration Fonn (Rev. 8-86) CENTRAL UTAH RELOCATION CENTER (TOPAZ) United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service OMB No. 1024-0018 Page 53 National Register of Historic Places Registration Fonn that the relocation was based on military necessity and concluded that the "broad historical causes that shaped the ' decisions were race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership." The commission was established by the U.S. Congress in 1980 to study the impact of the relocation and to propose remedial action. While a handful of individuals still defended the relocation decision, the commission concluded that "the personal injustice of excluding, removing, and detaining loyal American citizens is manifest. Such events are extraordinary and unique in American history. For every citizen and for American public life, they pose haunting questions about our ,,171 . country an d Its past. In August 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation providing $20,000 in tax-free reparations to each of sixty thousand surviving Japanese American evacuees. The bill included a formal apology, a review of convictions, and pardons for those who did not cooperate with the relocation. The President observed that "this bill has less to do with property than with honor. For here we admit a wrong.,,172 An informal Topaz Museum Board was organized in 1991 as a result of a Delta family donating half of an original Topaz recreation hall. The group determined to restore the building to its condition during the war years and successfully raised more than $50,000 from fonner Topaz evacuees. The restored building was dedicated in July 1995 on the grounds of the Great Basin Museum in Delta. Plans for a museum focused on Topaz heartened Tsuyako Kitashima, who commented that it "fills me with hope that younger generations of Americans will have a concrete reminder to not repeat the mistakes ofthe past." The Topaz Museum Board was incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in December 1996 with the following mission statement: "To preserve the Topaz relocation experience during World War II; to interpret its impact on the evacuees, their families, and the citizens of Millard County; and to educate the public in order to prevent a recurrence of a similar denial of American civil rights." Delta High School teacher Jane Beckwith, a native of the town and president ofthe board, took a lead in efforts to remember the story of Topaz and its historical significance. Today, the Topaz Museum Board publishes a newsletter, maintains a website, sponsors pilgrimages to Topaz, undertakes educational activities, and has acquired nearly 96 percent of the developed land of the camp to . lrom ~ deve Iopment. 173 protect It After experiencing years of vandalism, the Topaz monument installed in 1976 was damaged beyond repair. Ted Nagata designed a new monument dedicated in August 2002, in a ceremony sponsored by the Topaz Museum Board. A second monument (also designed by Nagata), honoring Japanese Americans from Topaz who served in the armed forces during World War II, and a flagpole were installed at the camp in 2005. 174 In recent years, professional studies of the Topaz site have documented its historical significance and physical integrity. The draft National Historic Landmarks theme study "Japanese Americans in World War II" recommends that the Topaz Relocation Center "be considered for possible National Historic Landmark designation." The National Park Service commissioned the preparation of this nomination. 171 U.S. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, Personal Justice Denied (Washington: U.S. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, 1982),35; Don T. Nakanishi, "Surviving Democracy's 'Mistake': Japanese Americans and the Enduring Legacy of Executive Order 9066," Amerasia Journal 19 (1993): 8. For an example of the minority who defend the relocation program, see Lillian Baker, The Concentration Camp Conspiracy--A Second Pearl Harbor (Lawndale, Calif.: AFHA Publications, 1981). 172 Linda M. Rancourt, "Remembering Manzanar," National Parks (May/June 1993): 34. 173 Topaz Times (Topaz Museum Board Newsletter), June 2002,3; Topaz Museum Board website, topazmuseum.org; Kitashima and Morimoto, Birth of an Activist, 132. 174 Salt Lake Tribune, 6 August 2002, AI; Ted Nagata, Salt Lake City, Utah, Telephone Interview by Thomas H. Simmons, 12 December 2005 .