These theme studies, which canvass a particular theme in American history, typically (but, as we shall see, not always) include a comparative analysis of properties that might be nominated as national historic landmarks.
JONATHAN JARVISA s an undergraduate student at the College of William and Mary in the mid-1970s, I was researching a topic for a sociology class paper and found a book on the history of the imprisonment of Japanese Americans during World War II. I learned that during this period, people of Japanese heritage were rounded up under an executive order by President Franklin Roosevelt, including many who were American citizens. I was appalled that our country would imprison over 100,000 people just because of their ethnicity. That may surprise the reader since I grew up in the South and had witnessed racism and segregation in the Virginia public schools. I am grateful that my parents modeled values that included respect for all people, regardless of their race, gender, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.Fast-forward some 30 years. As the Pacific West regional director for NPS, I was on the stage at the dedication of the new visitor center at Manzanar National Historic Site, the first NPS unit to tell the story of the confinement of Japanese Americans due to wartime hysteria and racism. The exhibits in the new visitor center, developed by NPS staff in the Pacific West Region, told this story and included incidents of contemporary bias against people of color, such as the treatment of Muslim Americans since the terrorist attack of 9/11.