Citizen USA

By Charles K. Ferguson. The unpublished manuscript of Citizen USA was donated to JANM in 2002 by Lois Ferguson, the wife of the author. It was created at the Manzanar concentration camp between 1942 and 1943 by Charles (Chuck) Ferguson, then,  the Director of Adult Education. In words and photographs, the voice and perspective of a young Sansei girl from Hollywood, California, describes the routine of camp life as well as the fear and uncertainty about the future that she and her family face. At the book’s conclusion she wonders, “Isn’t America still democratic?” Seeing hard truths and difficult circumstances from a child’s point of view is more relevant than ever before. This story will resonate with audiences unimagined in 1943. Included is a foreword by JANM Chief Curator Karen Ishizuka that describes the history of the Fergusons and the artifact.  Hardbound: 32 pp.