FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 5, 2007

38th ANNUAL MANZANAR PILGRIMAGE SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 28

“One Life...a Legacy for All,” is the theme for the 38th annual Manzanar Pilgrimage, sponsored by the Manzanar Committee, which will be held on Saturday, April 28, 2007 at the Manzanar National Historic Site.

This year’s event will honor the dedication, fighting spirit and the legacy left by Sue Kunitomi Embrey, who passed away in May, 2006.

Embrey, who was interned at Manzanar during World War II, was the former chair of the Manzanar Committee and was a founder of the Manzanar Pilgrimage. She was also the driving force behind the movement to create the Manzanar National Historic Site.

“Sue was very angry [about being interned],” said Rose Ochi, a former chair of the Manzanar National Historic Site Advisory Commission in a recent interview with the Ball State University Electronic Field Trips program. “But she took the anger and it fueled a lifetime dedicated to make certain that this story, this very tragic episode in this country’s history, be memorialized in order to ensure that it would never happen to any group again.”

“She used her anger to be a springboard for action,” added Ochi. “And it fueled her to be a champion for change.”

The program begins at noon at the Manzanar cemetery site and will feature various speakers who will talk about their work with Embrey and their memories of her.

The day’s events will also feature UCLA’s Kyodo Taiko, bagpipe player Dan Sprague, and folk singer Ken Koshio. The program will also include the traditional interfaith service and ondo dancing.

In addition to the afternoon program, the popular Manzanar At Dusk program is scheduled for 7:00 PM at the Manzanar National Historic Site Interpretive Center.

The Manzanar National Historic Site is located approximately 210 miles north of Los Angeles along US Highway 395 in the Eastern Sierra, nine miles north of Lone Pine, California and six miles south of Independence.

For more information about the Pilgrimage events, please contact the Manzanar Committee at (310) 532-7562 or (310) 908-7508 or send e-mail to manzcomm -at- yahoo.com.

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