Our exploration of Seabrook Farms and its layered histories examines the wartime relationship between captive labor and capitalism, and how social control extended beyond the immediate confines of internment camps.

Renowned for its flash-frozen vegetables, by 1950 Seabrook Farms was the largest agribusiness in the United States, employing more than 6,000 laborers. World War II created new opportunities for Seabrook to procure laborers with limited options. This included approximately 2,500 American citizens and immigrants of Japanese descent incarcerated in camps. While federal officials defended internment as a matter of national security, no evidence backed this claim and no formal charges were...read more…

The dominant narrative of the WWII incarceration of Japanese-Americans has been that they behaved as a "model minority," cooperated without protest, and proved their patriotism by enlisting in the Army. Resistance at Tule Lake, a new feature-length documentary from Third World Newsreel (Camera News Inc.) and directed by Japanese-American filmmaker Konrad Aderer, overturns that myth by telling the long-suppressed story of the Tule Lake Segregation Center.

Konrad Aderer (Director/Producer) is a Japanese-American filmmaker whose documentaries have focused on immigrants affected by detention and deportation. His feature documentary Enemy Alien received a Courage in Media award from CAIR and a Pacific...read more…

This event begins with a buffet dinner, followed by guided tours of the States of Incarceration exhibition given by undergraduate students who are training as docents and dialogue facilitators at the Aresty Research Institute. The evening will conclude with a production of The Castle, a play produced by The Fortune Society and directed by Eric Krebs. It casts formerly incarcerated individuals in a theatrical production exploring issues related to parole, release, and social integration.read more…

This conference explores themes related to the different components of the States of Incarceration Exhibit, highlighting the local history of Seabrook Farms, which was a significant contribution to the national exhibit, designed and curated by Rutgers University students working alongside Professor Andy Urban.

The first panel is centered on perspectives from the front lines of the movement to advocate for agricultural workers and features representatives from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the Campaign for Fair Food and CATA: The Farmworker Support Committee, who will discuss pressing issues such as immigration raids, sexual harassment, and wage theft. Participants will also highlight...read more…