A chat with Rosa Cabrera from the Field Museum

On June 29, 2009 I sat down with Rosa Cabrera, Public Involvement Manager at the Field Museum in their department of Environment, Cultural and Conservation (ECCo).

ECCo works on research and implementation projects with an aim to integrate environment, culture and conservation. This is done through collaboration with community organizations in the City of Chicago or the Chicagoland region and in South America. These two diverse geographies are included because two different departments within the Field Museum, the Center for Cultural Understanding and Change (CCUC) and the Environment and Conservation Programs (ECP), merged in January 2009 to become officially ECCo. ECCo works primarily with the Chicago Cultural Alliance to address cultural aspects of their mission and with Chicago Wilderness to tackle the environmental areas of their mission.

The CCUC, now ECCo, and Field Museum are particularly significant partners for the Alliance, which grew out of a program called Cultural Connections managed by the CCUC. Cultural Connections ran from 1998 - 2009, with an emphasis of connecting heritage to contemporary issues by comparing "Common Concerns, Different Responses" among Chicago's ethnic communities. At the urging of Chicago's ethnic museums, centers, and historical societies, the CCUC hired a consultant in 2005, with the intention of separating the role of Cultural Connections from the Field Museum, and the Alliance was officiallyincorporated as an independent organization in 2006.

ECCo brings a new model of integration and cultural understanding through facilitating collaboration between small and large organizations who normally would not have a relationship. They also try to draw the larger organizations into work on environmental conservation. Many of ECCo's goals are similar to the Chicago Cultural Alliance because they were born of the same ideas. Working with community organizations is a significant part of the work that both ECCo and the Alliance do because these organizations truly understand the needs of their communities, who make up a major part of Chicago's population.

For Rosa personally, the most rewarding part of her work with ECCo and the Field Museum has been to see the growth of the Alliance and to see the Partner Institutions expand their missions to include work on environmental issues. Rosa's background in is cultural anthropology, she received her master's degree from the University of Illinois - Chicago and went straight into working at the Field Museum, first as an intern in 1999, and later as a paid staff member in CCUC in 2000. In 2009, she earned her Ph.D in Cultural Anthropology, with a dissertation that focuses on Chicago's ethnic museums.

The mission of the Chicago Cultural Alliance is "effecting social change and public understanding of cultural diversity", an idea that Rosa sees happening as the Alliance helps Core Members expand their notion of heritage through addressing notions of identity. This in turn allows these organizations address contemporary issues in their community and helps them to fulfill their missions.

A chat with the Chicago Japanese American Historical Society

The Chicago Japanese American Historical Society (CJAHS) is one of 25 Core Members within the Chicago Cultural Alliance. The Executive director Jean Mishima and volunteer staff member Laurel Fujisawa have described some of what the CJAHS does, their mission and their relationship to the Alliance.

Q: How would you describe the purpose or goals of your organization (in a few sentences)?
A: The Chicago Japanese American Historical Society is a grassroots organization founded in the early 1990s. Our mission is to preserve, promote, and present the history of Japanese Americans in the Chicago area.

We have been documenting our history and legacy in Chicago, educating the general public about the Japanese American and Japanese experience and culture, and developing teaching materials and museum exhibits which feature aspects of Japanese American history.

Q: How would you define your community?
A: Our community, Japanese Americans in Chicago, is composed of three waves of immigration, and their descendants: The first, about 300 people, came to Chicago around the time of the Columbian Exposition in 1899. The second, and largest, group is descended from 30,000 who came to Chicago directly from the internment camps after World War II. Called the "ReSettlers", they created a community built around social service organizations, Buddhist and Christian churches and small businesses. The third, more recent, group are Japanese nationals who came to Chicago in the 1980s and 90s as artists and students and remained. A fourth, non-immigrant, group are Japanese business executives and their families who live in Chicago for a short span of time of generally two years.

Q: How does it contribute, or in what ways is it an asset, to the city of Chicago?
A: The CJAHS partners with many other cultural and ethnic organizations in the city. We volunteer at many events and share the Japanese American culture. We annually decorate a tree that represents our organization at City Hall. We have begun collecting stories of Japanese/Japanese Americans that have made a impact in Chicago.

Q: How does your organization serve your community? Please provide some specific examples.

A: CJAHS mission is dedicated to preserving the first-voice perspective of Chicago Japanese American experiences. We have been documenting our history and legacy in Chicago, educating the general public through workshops for educators, classroom presentations at the elementary, high school, college level and community facilities about the Japanese American and Japanese experience and culture, and developing teaching materials and museum exhibits which feature aspects of Japanese American history.

Q: How did you become involved with this organization?
A: Shortly after the 1980s’ Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWIRC) hearings in Chicago, Yoji Ozaki lead discussion groups for Japanese American senior citizen residents at Heiwa Terrace. These watershed hearings gave psychological permission to former internees to finally discuss their camp experiences. As was the case in many other Japanese American communities, these discussions provided a much needed opportunity to come to terms with past traumatic events. Later, in the early 1990s, Scott La France from the Chicago Historical Society asked the Japanese American community for its help in developing the exhibit “Chicago Goes to War, 1941-45.” Yoji Ozaki responded and the Japanese American relocation story was included in this major exhibit. Following this experience with the community, La France saw a need for formalizing historical documentation and recommended forming a Chicago Japanese American Historical Society.

Q: What has been the most rewarding part of working with this organization?
A: I feel a sense of accomplishment in preserving the Japanese American experience. It is satisfying to share the WW2 experience to history students and other groups that didn't know about the incarceration of Americans of Japanese ancestry. It is a rewarding to contribute to history projects of young students that can't find information in mainstream resources. Mostly, I feel enriched by all the people I've met through this organization.

Q: Why do you think it is important for your organization to be part of the Chicago Cultural Alliance?
A: Our organization represents a rich minority community that has made a large contribution to Chicago.

Q: How has the Alliance expanded your opportunities (i.e. funding, relationship-building, etc.)?
A: It provided us the opportunity to build relationships with other Alliance members to work together on projects. The CJAHS is involved with photo exhibit hosted by the Field Museum "part asian - 100% hapa" on race and will use this opportunity to partner with other ethnic organizations on assimilation and race. Our connections to the museums and educational institutions gives us the ability to find a larger audience. Networking through the Alliance makes it possible to instantly collaborate and partner with other institutions.

Q: How do you understand the Alliance's mission of "effect[ing] social change and public understanding of cultural diversity?" What is the significance of this mission to your organization?
A: After WW2, the Japanese Americans were told to leave the concentration camps in the West and settle in other cities. Chicago was one destination. The Japanese Americans were also ordered to assimilate. Consequently, many of our younger generation are racially mixed. Many of them are interested in finding their roots. We find the Alliance to be contemporary and very attractive to our current generation.

Meet Justin

Hi, I am interning with the Cultural Alliance until September 2009. This summer with the Alliance I am working on the development of a joint services plan for our core members. I am also working with the Field Museum on crafting a civic engagement program for our members.

I graduated in May 2009 from Columbia University in New York City with a B.A. in History. Over the past summers, I have worked with the National Endowment for the Humanities in its Federal-State Partnership office and also with the Illinois Humanities Council. With the IHC, I compiled a resource database that was used in the Council’s 2008-2009 year-long series All Consuming: Conversations on Oil and Water.

In October, I will start at Oxford University, pursuing M.Phil and D. Phil degrees in early modern European history. My main scholarly interests are in seventeenth-century English cultural and intellectual movements, particularly the relationship between literary history and gender relations.

Away from academia--and trying as much as possible not to sound like a Lonely Hearts ad—I scuba dive and play club-level tennis. And, owing to Chicago’s active summer life, my cultural calendar while I’m here will certainly be full!