Hyde Park to Manzanar: The Life of the Harding Museum Curator & Hyde Park Business Owner Kiyotsugu Tsuchiya

The Hyde Park Historical Society hosted this event on Saturday, December 7, 2023 from 10am-12pm

The event held on December 7, 2024, was marked by a strong turnout from the Hyde Park community, with attendees gathering to learn more about Kiyotsugu Tsuchiya and family, as well as the significance of the Harding Museum that once stood in Kenwood. The audience learned more about the lives and experiences of Kiyotsugu and his family, one of the earliest Japanese families that lives in the Hyde Park- Kenwood Communities. Lourdes Nicholls took the audience through some of the best photos most have seen to date- of the Harding Museum. Also illuminataed were photos from their home in Hyde Park and the business they owned at 5253 S Cornell. The presentation then continued, and described the impact anti-Japanese sentiments during WWII led to a profound impact on her family…. including leading to incarceration by the US Government at Manzanar located in California. The presentation concluded with questions in person and on zoom, followed by the option for in person visitors to view the collection that Lourdes Nicholls has continued to preserve and share on behalf of her family. Below are some more photos of the event.

The Hyde Park Herald also attended and wrote a great article on the event.

On December 7, 2024, the Hyde Park Historical Society was hosted "Hyde Park to Manzanar: The Life of the Harding Museum Curator & Hyde Park Business Owner Kiyotsugu Tsuchiya". Lourdes Nicholls, granddaughter of Kiyotsugu Tsuchiya shared how her grandfather and family went from living at the Harding Museum and owning a Japanese restaurant on Cornell to living in one of America’s Japanese Incarceration Camps... Manzanar. Jonathan Tavares, the Amy and Paul Carbone Curator of Applied Arts at the Art Institute of Chicago, also spoke on the museum’s collection originally from the Harding Museum. This video contains content from "The Orange Story" a film by Full Spectrum Features, with permission from Co-Executive Director Jason Matsumoto. To learn more about Full Spectrum Films, visit: https://www.fullspectrumfeatures.com/