Question about how I missed this WWII story from my own town for 30 years

I grew up in a small town in Ohio, and last month I found out there was a whole Japanese American internment camp right outside city limits during WWII. The local historical society buried it in their archives and never put up a marker. My grandma had lived here her whole life and never mentioned it once. I only found out because a visiting professor from UCLA gave a talk at the library. So here is my debate: Should towns be forced to acknowledge painful history with public markers, or does that just stir up old wounds for families? I am leaning toward marking it, but some locals say it will hurt tourism and property values. What do you all think is the right call here?

2 comments

2 Comments

angelac6328d ago

My friend found out her town hid a similar camp and it crushed her faith in local history.

baker.ben27d ago

That's exactly what gets me about this whole thing. Once you start digging, you realize EVERY town has something buried in its past. My buddy in Oregon found out his city had a "rehabilitation school" that was actually just forced labor for indigenous kids. The local historical society had photos of the buildings but left out the part about the abuse. It really makes you question all those cute plaques and historical markers they put up at the square. Like, what else are they conveniently forgetting to mention?