Calling All Legacy Families: Bring Your WWII-Era Photos and Heirlooms to the Densho Mobile Collections Event

Densho, in partnership with the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial, has arranged to bring its new mobile collections team to Bainbridge Island for an afternoon of scanning and documenting historical photos and heirlooms to be added to the Densho Digital Archives and the BIJAC Collection for inclusion in the telling of our island’s Japanese American history.

Event Details:

Date: Saturday, March 30, 2025
Time: ~2:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. (begins immediately after Legacy Family Luncheon)
Location: Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, 550 Winslow Way E, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Parking: On-site parking is available

1. Families may bring as many as 20 items to scan. Please sign up to reserve your spot and receive follow-up information.
2. Acceptable items for day-of scanning include: photographs (no rolled photos), letters, documents (between 1 to 10 pages long), and small artifacts (no larger than 20 inch cubed or 12 inches cubed). In general, we are looking for items related to immigration, pre-war Bainbridge Island, the incarceration and forced removal, and the immediate post-war return.
3. Items that we cannot scan day-of,  but that we would be interested in scanning at Densho’s office in Seattle: photo albums, documents (containing more than 10 pages), scrapbooks, journals, diaries, and community directories and yearbooks. We look for topics related to all aspects of the Japanese American experience, from immigration to redress/reparations and activism.
4. Densho is available to host a virtual meeting to answer questions in advance of the event. Please sign up if you are interested.
5. Each family will receive complimentary digital files of their items. These will be delivered approximately one month after the event. 
6. Contributors must sign a Photo and Document release form in order to share their collection in the Densho Digital Repository and BIJAC Collection.