Museum Picks
Mary Karasawa’s Museum Picks: Common Ground and Silent Scars of Healing Hands Common Ground: The Japanese American National Museum and the Culture of Collaboration is my first recommendation as a Museum Pick. For volunteer docents, it’s a must-read; for others, it’s an interesting and informative collection of essays about the National Museum and the Japanese American experience. It is important for docents to know the thinking process that takes place with the staff who manage our museum, create the exhibitions, and whose job it is to tell our story and to work with others in the community to shape “our experiences and our perspective.” My other recommendation is Silent Scars of Healing Hands: Oral Histories of Japanese American Doctors in World War II Detention Camps. As the title suggests, this book is a collection of oral histories of Japanese American doctors who practiced medicine under the stressful conditions of incarceration. Because visitors to the National Museum often ask docents about the hospitals within camp, this book provides essential information about an aspect of camp life with which most of us are unfamiliar. When I brought these books to the attention of others at a recent volunteer meeting, many went directly to the Museum Store to buy copies. I highly recommend both of these books! Mary Karasawa is a Friday volunteer docent at the Japanese American National Museum. 2006 | |
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