The Eaton Collection will be on display at JAMsj from July 12 to July 15th, from 12pm to 4pm each day.

While conducting research for a book about art and craft objects created by Japanese Americans during World War II, author Allen Hendershott Eaton amassed a significant collection of such camp artifacts. More than 60 years later, in 2015, a controversial  attempt by a private party to auction the artifacts was averted by Japanese American community leaders and activists. Ultimately,  the Eaton Collection was transferred to the Japanese American National Museum for safekeeping and conservation.  The museum is now actively seeking input from the community about the items in the collection through a traveling pop-up  display and accompanying workshops. The display includes physical or digital representation of every item in the collection— more than 400 individual photographs, sculptures, paintings and watercolors, jewelry items, vases, beads, nameplates,  and other items handmade by Japanese Americans while enduring incarceration in the WWII camps. Contested Histories is  intended to help gather information about each individual object so that the museum’s efforts to preserve and catalog the  collection can be as complete as possible. Camp survivors, their family members, and friends are encouraged to share with  JANM information they know or remember about the objects, including who is depicted in the many photographs.  Visit janm.org/contested-histories for more information about the Eaton Collection, the pop-up display, and travel schedule.
Japanese American Museum of San Jose
535 North Fifth Street
San Jose, CA 95112
Join us for a brief workshop on July 12 at 6pm to discover and interact with the history of the pop-up collection.
Viewing and workshop free with museum admission:
JAMsj Members: Free
Adults: $8
Seniors (65 and older with valid ID): $5
Students (with valid ID): $5
Children (under 5): Free
Active Military & Family: Free