"The interest in preservation at Manzanar arose in 1969 when a UCLA group of approximately 150 people, primarily young Sansei and Yonsei, or fourth gneration Japnese immigrants, drove north to clean up the camp site and commemorate the reolcation in what became the first Manzanar Pilgrimage. Nisei Sue Kunitomi Embrey participate din this journey, and her dedication to the preservation of Manzanar and the sharing of its history soon became legendary. Born Sueko on January 6, 1923, Mrs. Embrey was relocated with ehr family to Manzanar just one year after graduating from high school. While behind barbed wrie she worked in teh camouflage net factory and served as editor of the camp's newspaper, the Manzanar Free Press. She left the camp for Madison, Wisconsin in 1943...She was also constantly activie in political and activist circles advocating rights for minorities, workers and women.
Her participation in the 1969 Pilgrimage was a turning point for Mrs. Embrey taht inspired her to undertake a '35 year endeavor to raise awareness of the enduring consequences of Executive Order 9066." In 1971, she adn Warran Furutani, a youth director for hte JCAL who helped develop the first pilgrimage, crated the Manzanar Project, which became the Manzanar Committee, an organization dedicated to educating the public about EO 9066 and to earning California State Historic Landmark status for Manzanar.According to their nomination paperwork, Manznar deserved such distinction because it was the first of the WRA camps, it was the closest to LA, which had a significant Japanese American popluation, and it included a cemetery and a monument of arachaeological and historical importance. In January 1972, the California Department of Parks and Recreation declared Manzanar to be a State Historic Landmark #850 and ad edication ceremony with over 1,500 attendees was held in conjunction with the 1973 Pilgrimage. Four years later, the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board also declared Manzanar to be an LA City Historic Landmark.
