Griffith Park's Past Life As An Internment Camp Site Recognized By LA

LOS ANGELES, CA — The area around Griffith Park's Travel Town, today known for its lighthearted mini-train ride and museum, once housed a much different facility — a World War II internment camp.

Now, park leaders plan to draw attention to that history with the installation of an educational sign. The city Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners on Thursday approved placement of the sign, which will offer information about the Griffith Park Internment Camp.

The day after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the federal government earmarked money to build the Los Angeles camp. The facility was used to detain first-generation immigrants from Axis countries.

Researchers have identified by name 101 Japanese, 21 Germans and 4 Italians who were housed at the camp so far, internment camp scholar Russell Endo told Patch.

Those people were detained for periods between one night and several months; it was not used for long-term detention. The Army closed the site in 1943 to reallocate military guards needed elsewhere, according to the report.

The sign will contain information gleaned from research conducted over the past year by Endo and Griffith Park historian Linda Barth, according to city documents.

"Recognition of such sites provides an opportunity to educate the public about the importance of protecting everyone's rights and freedom, especially in times of national crisis," Endo wrote in a letter to the parks commission.

The sign is a gift from the Griffith J. Griffith Charitable Foundation, an organization that evolved from Griffith's original land donation to the city that allowed the creation of his namesake park.

It's set to be installed in the courtyard outside the Travel Town Museum.