Newspaper/TV Release:

 [ATTENTION EXHIBIT HOSTS: Be sure to enter the information for your event into the fields in the second paragraph and then delete this reminder BEFORE distributing!]

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact person: [host’s representative] or [rep’s phone number] at [rep’s email address].

Traveling Exhibit Tells Unknown Story of German-American
Civilian Internment in the United States during World War II

Some disappeared under the cover of night, while others were taken during raids on their place of employment. About a third were kidnapped by U.S. agents in other countries and brought here by force. None had a lawyer, or were charged with, tried for or convicted of a war-related crime. Many were imprisoned for the duration of that global war, and for years after it ended.

Suspected terrorists? Inmates at Guantanamo Bay? No. 15,000 German-American civilians the U.S. Government interned between 1941 and 1948.

Using ten narrative panels, an NBC “Dateline” documentary and a 1945 U.S. Government color film about this story, TRACES’ mobile museum—a retrofitted school bus called the BUS-eum 2—will tour four Midwest states during spring 2008, reaching schools, libraries and historical societies. TRACES Director and historian, Michael Luick-Thrams will tour with the exhibit and is available for phone or live interviews as the tour progresses.

Barring unforeseen difficulties, the BUS-eum 2 will be in [TOWN] from [TIME AM/PM] to [TIME AM/PM] on [DAY OF WEEK], the [DATE] of [MONTH] 2008; it will be parked in front of the [NAME OF INSTITUTION], at [STREET ADDRESS]: the local contact person is [NAME], at [PHONE NUMBER] or [EMAIL ADDRESS].

TRACES Center for History and Culture is a Midwest/WWII-history museum in downtown Saint Paul/MN’s historical Landmark Center (former 1896 Federal Courts Building). Each of it’s more than two dozen exhibits about Midwesterners’ encounters with Germans or Austrians between 1933 and 1948 forms part of a larger mosaic, a fuller image of a war that is often misunderstood or seen in clichés. At TRACES, WWII is a case study to learn from for today's and future generations.

• The main goals of this mobile exhibit include presenting an unknown history to a wide audience, stimulating penetrating questions on the part of visitors to the exhibit and then leading them to open discussion. It explores a virtually unknown yet significant historical event—possibly one of the U.S.’s least-known WWII sub-chapters
• Communities across the region will have an opportunity—in most cases for the first time—to discuss the legacy as well as implications of the U.S. Government’s WWII “enemy alien” internment program. At select showings former internees or their children will appear as guest speakers and share what internment meant to them and their families. At all showings related print and electronic documentation will be available for purchase.
  

Through this project, Midwesterners will see WWII history in a new way, and “re-visit” an event and a period often overly-simplified and obscured by bravado. The community conversations are meant to support democratic involvement and processes.

(Early arrival is encouraged, as the tour is tightly scheduled and showings will begin and end promptly at the times indicated. TRACES seeks volunteers in each community along the route, to help make each stop as effective as possible: would-be volunteers should contact the local hosts in a given town, or TRACES directly.)

To confirm the BUS-eum’s itinerary or learn more this exhibit, see www.TRACES.org. The exhibit’s texts and photos of the exhibit can be previewed at that web site; reading the narrative in advance facilitates speedier visitor flow in the BUS. Educators are welcome to utilize the teaching materials also posted on the same web site.

This exhibit is supported, in part, by the South Dakota State Historical Society, with additional local supporters across the region.

 The following individuals are willing to be interviewed for pre-showing media features:

Karen Ebel <kebel@yahoo.com>; father was interned at Fort Lincoln/North Dakota

Eberhard Fuhr <ebfuhr@earthlink.net>; family lived in Cincinnati/Ohio upon being interned; Eberhard has lived in Minnesota and Chicago since being released

Ursula Vogt Potter <upotter@charter.net>; father was interned at Camp McCoy/Wisconsin and at Fort Lincoln/North Dakota

Authors of related books:

John Christgau <jchristgau@aol.com>; author of book about Fort Lincoln, a camp near Bismarck/North Dakota

Stephen Fox <mckeasy@mac.com>; author of book about German-American internment

Arnold Krammer <apkrammer@aol.com>; author of book about German-American internment

Volunteer Description:

TRACES seeks volunteers (for 1-3 hours) in each community where we will be bringing “VANISHED”, a mobile exhibit about German-American civilian internees during WWII. During a given stop such individuals run errands, set up equipment, answer basic questions (i.e., the direction of the panels) or help elderly or disabled visitors in and out of the BUS-eum 2, etc. Might such volunteers be found among your friends or family, in groups to which you belong, work staff, places of worship, etc.? For more information about our organization and planned exhibit tour, see www.TRACES.org. Contact TRACES’ staff at admin@TRACES.org or 651.292.8700 or a showing’s local host. As a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, all donations to TRACES are welcome and tax-deductible; they make future preservation and programs possible.

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