Comments:

On page 67, George’s mom reveals that she brought her sewing machine with her to the camp. She used the sewing machine for many tasks including making new clothes for the children, making curtains for the windows in their cabin, and more. She also used her creativity to braid material scraps together to make rugs and mats for the cabin to make it feel more “homey”. Even in these unbelievably mentally and physically challenging circumstances, George’s mom fought hard to give him and his brother a good life there, it was her own sort of act of defiance: being able to successfully provide a life for her family in a country that did not welcome them anymore.

On page 77, we learn that the area the camp is located in used to be a swamp, so the heavy rain quickly flooded the camp’s walkways. Some of the men at the camp took it upon themselves to find a solution to the gross muddy mess that was the camp currently, so they found materials (discarded wood) and began construction. Contribution from many at the camp helped the process move quickly and soon they had raised wooden walkways that allowed for a dry place to walk when the camp was a swamp.

Extension:

(decided to answer my question)

I learned that it was very common for the women in the internment camps to transform their cabins into comfortable living arrangements through DIYs. The women made all sorts of household items including lamp shades, table runners, bedspreads, woven together blinds, braided rag rugs, and so much more. The families worked together to build all their furniture from bed frames to nightstands to tables, since they were provided with only an empty room. Some women took the homemaking a step further and carefully saved colored pieces of paper or scraps from magazines to make faux flowers for the cabin.

https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Arts_and_crafts_in_camp/#Transforming_Living_Units

Question:

I wonder if many wives/mothers found ways to decorate their cabins? What other smart ideas did these women have (like the rugs George’s mom made)?