Friday, October 16, through Friday, November 20, 2026
Selected Weekend Dates: October 17–18, 24; November 7, 14
Japanese American Service Committee (5700 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago IL 60659)
Opening Program: Saturday, October 17, 1PM-3PM
We invite all to to attend the Opening Program for the Crystal City exhibit, which will feature showing of the documentary film Then Becoming Now(which follows three Japanese Americans once incarcerated at Crystal City, and their views on current immigration issues in the U.S.), followed by a panel discussion with children of Japanese Peruvian incarceration survivors.
Closing Program: Saturday, November 7, 1PM-3PM
Join us for the closing program of Crystal City: America’s Last WWII Concentration Camp, featuring a screening of One Fighting Irishman, which tells the story of civic rights attorney Wayne Collins and his representation of more than 5,000 Japanese Americans who renounced their American citizenship while imprisoned at Tule Lake. Wayne’s work at Crystal City helped hundreds of Japanese Peruvians avoid deportation to Japan. The program will show a screening of the documentary followed by a panel discussion.
Registration required—RSVP here.
Crystal City: America’s Last WWII Concentration Camp tells the story of the only U.S. internment camp created to reunite families during World War II. Created as a family reunification center for immigrants arrested under the Alien Enemies Act in 1942, Crystal City remained open until 1948, long after WWII ended. The Crystal City Family Internment Camp, administered by the Department of Justice, held thousands of Japanese, Germans, and Italians individuals and families. Crystal City was also used as a detention facility for Latin American residents awaiting deportation in a prisoner of war exchange with Axis countries.
The Crystal City Pilgrimage Committee’s national traveling exhibit will be on display at JASC October 16 – November 20, 2026 in the newly renovated Legacy Center Library & Reading Room. Learn more and plan your visit here.
Interested in volunteering at the exhibit? Sign up for a docent shift here!