The collection is a product of the Empty Chair Project, which began as a memorial in Capital City Park to honor Japanese-Americans forcibly removed from Juneau during the war. A documentary, filmed by Greg Chaney, with interviews conducted by Alice (Tanaka) Hikido, also exists. Interviews with Juneau Japanese-Americans and their personal effects were part of an exhibit at the Juneau-Douglas City Museum in 2014.

From the Empty Chair Project: “After Japan bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States entered WWII. In the ensuing panic, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 sending 120,000 persons of Japanese descent to ten relocation camps without the benefit of due process. Over 200 pioneering Japanese men, women, and children were evacuated from all over Alaska in April of 1942. All were escorted to a military transport ship destined for Seattle and then moved by train to desolate camps where they were held for the duration of the war. Amidst this furor, a decision was made to hold a special graduation ceremony for Juneau High School’s 1942 Valedictorian, John Tanaka. Subsequently, when his class graduated in June, 1942, an empty, wooden folding chair was left to symbolize John’s absence, and by extension, an entire community of Japanese and Japanese-Americans.” Website: https://emptychairproject.wordpress.com/.