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Saturday marks 80th Anniversary of Executive Order 9066

japaneseAmericanMemorial3.jpg
Rachael McDonald
/
KLCC
The Japanese American Memorial in downtown Eugene include educational plaques about Oregonians who were placed in internment camps during World War II.

Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022 marks the 80th anniversary FDR signing of Executive Order 9066 which led to the internment of thousands of Japanese-Americans during World War II. A small park in Eugene commemorates local residents affected by the order.

japaneseAmericanMemorial4.jpg
Rachael McDonald
/
KLCC
The memorial park is on the same site where Japanese American residents were supposed to register before being transported to camps.

The memorial park is near the Hult Center, at 6th and Willamette, the site where, in 1942, Japanese-Americans had to register before being relocated to internment camps. Aimee Yogi is with the Eugene Japanese American Memorial Committee.

“We have this very painful incident that happened,” she said. “And we were a part of it in Eugene. And if you are connected to the University of Oregon at all, that is our history.”

In 1942, many Japanese-American UO students were moved to other schools outside of the west coast evacuation zone so they could continue their education.

The Eugene memorial was dedicated on February 19th, 2007.

Copyright 2022 KLCC.

Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s former News Director. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000. After reporting for the Northwest News Network and KAZU, Rachael returned to KLCC in 2007 as Morning Edition host and a general assignment reporter covering politics, the environment, education, and the arts. She was hired as KLCC News Director in 2018. Rachael departed KLCC in June, 2022.