Cal Humanities

"The understanding of a culture comes from hearing the language, tasting the food, seeing personal interactions, experiencing the traditions, and so much more in context."

— Elizabeth Laval & Candice Pendergrass, Sikh Youth Public History Project

"The understanding of a culture comes from hearing the language, tasting the food, seeing personal interactions, experiencing the traditions, and so much more when it is in context."

— Elizabeth Laval & Candice Pendergrass, Sikh Youth Public History Project

Full Interview with Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

*Note: this is the full-length interview. You can also find a shorter version of this interview here on our site.

Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, author of California Reads selected book Farewell to Manzanar (with husband James D. Houston).

Talks about how the very personal story of her family’s life in an internment camp became a cautionary tale about civil rights violations read by hundreds of thousands of students in the United States.

For 2012, the California Reads program is part of our Searching for Democracy initiative. Look for interviews with the other California Reads authors and find out more about Searching for Democracy here on our website.