Since 2013, we have been the direct link between the Topaz Museum and the Topaz community.

Who We Are.

The Friends of the Topaz Museum was formed in 2013 by descendants of former inmates at the World War II American concentration camp known as Topaz, to support the establishment of the Topaz Museum in Delta, Utah. The Topaz Museum opened in 2017 with a major celebration attended by hundreds of Topaz survivors and descendants, after decades of fundraising and community input. 

We remember our Issei, (first generation) Japanese immigrant ancestors and their children, who were incarcerated as a result of Executive Order 9066, and are honored to build upon the work of the Nisei (second generation, American-born Japanese), who spent decades forging connections with the residents of Delta, Utah, despite their traumatic experiences at Topaz. Together, they preserved the former incarceration site and envisioned a museum that would ensure the preservation of Topaz artifacts, stories, and critical messages about racism, mass hysteria, and acquiescent political leadership.

It took many years before the Nisei could return to the place that held painful memories of their unjust imprisonment, a place that also symbolized the pride of their resilience. Some returned multiple times, bringing with them delicate shell pins, wood furniture, and art all created in Topaz—these artifacts, they felt, belonged in a future Topaz Museum where their stories could be told to the greater public. 

The Friends of the Topaz Museum held its first public fundraising event in San Francisco, in November 2013. Subsequent outreach events were held in the San Francisco Bay Area to educate the public about the museum and the Topaz National Historic Landmark.  

As we approach our tenth anniversary, we welcome new volunteers to help us continue to preserve and share the story of Topaz to secure its place in American history for future generations.

What We Do.

Friends of Topaz Museum is a group of predominately Japanese American descendants of World War II Topaz concentration camp incarcerees living in the San Francisco Bay Area. We support the Topaz Museum because we believe in its mission to preserve Topaz stories and to educate the greater public about this tragic chapter of American history, including the devastating impact the concentration camps had on its Japanese American survivors. We continually draw inspiration from the courage and resilience of our community, generations later.

FOTM acts as a link between the Topaz Museum and the larger community of Topaz survivors, descendants, and allies. We engage in and support research, education, and historic preservation of the WWII concentration camp at Topaz and are committed to working directly with the Topaz Museum to accomplish its mission of preserving the Topaz site and its World War II history; to interpret the impact of Topaz on the prisoners, their families, and the residents of Millard County; and to educate the public in order to prevent a recurrence of a similar denial of American civil rights.

Why You Should Get Involved.

2022 marks the 80th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 by then U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which authorized the incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry into American concentration camps during World War II. With each passing year, more camp survivors pass away and take their memories and first-hand accounts of their experiences with them. We need your participation to preserve and pass on Topaz stories, in order to educate ourselves and the greater public about the history and civil liberty lessons of the War Relocation Authority and Department of Justice concentration camps.