Passing Poston, a new documentary by Joe Fox and James Nubile, tells an emotional, poignant story of four former detainees of the Poston Relocation Center during World War II.

Poston was among the 10 War Relocation Authority (WRA) concentration camps built to imprison Americans of Japanese descent in remote areas away from West Coast shores. These prison camps were scattered from inland California to faraway Arkansas. 

The WRA imprisoned over 18,000 Japanese Americans at Poston Relocation Center between 1942 to 1945. The prison was built on the Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation – the result of a unique agreement between the WRA and the Office of Indian Affairs (OIA). The U.S. Government was aware that many Japanese Americans were skilled farmers – and the government quickly figured out how to capitalize on those skills.

While interned, these Japanese Americans cultivated the surrounding lands, transforming the dry arid landscape into productive fields. After the war, Native Americans from surrounding smaller reservations migrated to the Colorado River Indian Tribes Reservation to continue to develop the now-productive land.  Their descendants continue to live and farm there today.

Come join us to learn more about this little-known part of American war history. The filmmakers are scheduled to be in attendance to answer audience questions after the screening. For more information about the film, go to www.passingposton.com.

This program is co-sponsored by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program and the National Museum of the American Indian.