Project Collaboration
The Amache Alliance engages and supports a wide range of Amache preservation and educational projects.
For more real-time updates, join our new Facebook group: All Things Amache facebook.com/groups/809799359625587/
2024 Annual Amache Pilgrimage - May 18
Volunteer Set Up and Clean Up Day - May 17
The annual Amache Pilgrimage takes place on the Saturday before Memorial Day weekend, May 18, 2024, this year. Nikkeijin Kai of Colorado will provide Denver bus details. Check Amache.org for pilgrimage details.
On Friday May 17th, join volunteers from the Amache Preservation Society, Amache Alliance, NPCA, CPI, DU Amache Project and others at Amache and in Granada.
Friday May 17th:
3:00pm NPS Amache Site Opening Celebration followed by Amache Site Tour(s)
6:30pm Meet at Granada High School auditorium for Amache presentations and social with celebration cake (new location)
Saturday May 18th: Pilgrimage at Amache cemetery followed by potluck lunch at school
Sunday May 19th: Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site Tour
If interested in volunteering and spending extra time on the Amache site, please contact us at amachealliance@gmail.com
Amache - Sand Creek Youth Ambassador Program
Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Award
The Colorado Outdoor Equity Grant Program accepted a project submittal from the Amache Alliance, Sand Creek Massacre Foundation, and NPCA team. The grant will support activities engaging youth at both the newly designated Amache National Historic Site in Granada and Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in Eads, Colorado.
The program empowers youth to participate in site-based community events while building a coalition of stewards for two of Colorado’s Historic Sites.
The voices of the youth are essential for site conservation and future interpretation.
The program is seeking participation from Youth Ambassadors (age 14-25) and Community Educators. We are also looking for two ambassadors and two educators from the Amache descendant community, AND one ambassador each from Kiowa County and Granada who are not (necessarily) descendants.
If you are interested in participating contact annie.danis@gmail.com for more details. Select the pdf icon for additional derails.
2023 ASSOCIATION OF PRINT SCHOLARS COLLABORATION GRANT
Amache Silk Screen Shop
The Association of Print Scholars Collaboration Grant funds public programs and projects that foster collaboration between members of the print community and/or encourage dialogue between the print community and the general public.
Art Historian at the College of the Holy Cross, Melissa Geisler Trafton, was awarded a $1,000 collaboration grant to create a website dedicated to the Amache Silks Screen Shop. With assistance from Amache Alliance Board members Melissa will build a site that
showcases a digital gallery of silk screen products created at the Amache Silk Screen Shop.
Initially established to print training posters for the US Navy, the Amache Silk Screen Shop also printed a huge variety of objects for use within camp such as greeting cards, dance invitations, calendars, programs, posters, and pamphlets. Many of these prints still exist at
the Amache Museum, in personal collections, or in other repositories.
The website created by this grant will begin to create a digital gallery of these silk screen objects, allowing them to be shared and appreciated as works of art and creativity while also giving us a glimpse into everyday life at Amache through the colors and designs of silk screens.
Amache Preservation Society
Education, on site projects, tours, and maintenance
The Amache Preservation Society (APS) maintains the physical site of Amache (until formal National Historic Site establishment), manages the Amache museum in Granada, and is instrumental in its preservation.
The Granada High School society, established by Mr. John Hopper, consists of volunteer students. With the help of supporting organizations, the APS has renovated the cemetery, established the Amache Museum and research center, restored key Amache landmarks, including the water tower, a guard tower, honor roll kiosk, and barrack.
APS reaches out to the local communities and educates about Amache. The Amache Alliance helps maintain the Amache.org website, support on-site projects, and provides community support for their programs.
National Park Service
Amache National Historic Site Act (H.R. 2497 / S.1284)
Amache National Historic Site Transition
On March 18, 2022, the Amache National Historic Site Act was signed into law by President Joseph R. Biden, designating Amache National Historic Site as a new park in the National Park System.
The Amache National Historic Site Act (H.R.2497) authorizes the park to be established, and requires the NPS to meet certain conditions, including land acquisition, in order to be established. The National Park Service will work with the Town of Granada to acquire the land. The Amache Alliance is supporting the NPS team with historical information supporting the lands transition process and involved in the foundation document creation.
Parkplanning - Amache Special Resource Study (nps.gov)
Amache National Historic Site Foundation Document
We have quarterly meetings with the Park Service and special topic meetings supporting the transition process to establish the Amache National Historic Site.
Dept. of Interior Sec. Deb Haaland, Sen. Bennet, Rep. Neguse, NPS staff, and Tracy Coppola from the NPCA visiting during the 2022 Day of Rememberance.
National Parks Conservation Association
Amache National Historic Site Advocate
NPCA and partners are committed to creating a national park site that preserves the Amache incarceration camp, interprets the history under which it operated, and honors the people who were once imprisoned there based solely on their ethnicity.
The Alliance partnered with the NPCA and Senior Colorado National Parks Program Manager, Tracy Coppola, in support of the legislative bills. Amache National Historic Site Act (H.R. 2497) was signed into law by President Biden on March 18, 2022.
Collaboration with the two other National Historic Sites near Amache is a priority too. We are working with the Sand Creek Massacre descendants and Foundation on increasing awareness of each other's history.
Colorado Preservation Inc.
Barrack and Rec. Hall Interior Exhibits
Colorado Preservation, Inc. has received a NPS JACS grant to develop public exhibits for the reconstructed 12H barrack and 11F recreation hall. CPI Preservation Services Director Jane Daniels is working with Amache community groups for project input. The project team, including Amache Alliance Directors Dana Ogo Shew and April Kamp-Whittaker, will draft a conceptual framework and plans in early 2022.
CPI supports volunteer projects at Amache including an upcoming Aug 26, 2023, workshop in Granada, CO to begin making furniture for the barrack.
Katie Arntzen Colorado - State Historical Fund
Dr. Bonnie Clark - Univ. of Denver
April Kamp-Whittaker and Dana Ogo Shew
North Shore Productions and
Colorado Preservation Inc.
Amache Documentary Film & Educational Curriculum Project
Colorado Preservation, Inc., in a partnership with North Shore Productions in Portland, Oregon, will make a documentary film about Japanese Americans who were incarcerated in Amache during World War II. A 2021 National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant provides the initial funding. The Amache Alliance is providing access to historical expertise and stakeholder community engagement.
Community Outreach and Education
The Amache Alliance works to educate all Americans about the forced evacuation, relocation, and internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. The Amache Alliance works collaboratively with other organizations to highlight the lessons of Japanese American confinement and its relevance to the preservation of liberty and civil rights for all Americans today.
Partnership and collaboration included the following projects:
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JANM - USC Shinso Ito Center:
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Irei - National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration
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For Every Generation: Recovering and Sharing Family Histories
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Community advisor for Bible and Sutra project
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JANM: Sutra and Bible exhibit and book
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NJAHS: WRA Incarceree Farm Labor Teacher Education Project
USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture
Volunteer day organized by the Amache Alliance. Volunteers from the Amache Alliance, NPCA, Colorado Preservation Inc, History Colorado, NPS, and supporters has a great time building friendships.
Rec. Hall clean up on Volunteer Day. Supporting the Amache Preservation Society and preparing for Pilgrimage day.
Amache rose decided to bloom again on Pilgrimage day.
Volunteer day organized by the Amache Alliance. Volunteers from the Amache Alliance, NPCA, Colorado Preservation Inc, History Colorado, NPS, and supporters has a great time building friendships.