Senior project ‘Shadows of the Past’ shares family’s incarceration story

Riverside, Calif. (April 25, 2025) – For Shelby Taguchi, a graphic design and visual experience senior at California Baptist University, her capstone project was a personal story she wanted to share.

The project — "Kako no Kage – Shadows of the Past” — was a multimedia exhibit that explored the legacy of Japanese American incarceration during World War II, with a personal focus on her own family's history. Her paternal grandparents were incarcerated when they were children — her grandfather “Papa” at Poston in Arizona and her grandmother “Nana” at Manzanar in California.

“I wanted this project not only to cover my family's own personal story but to educate people on the general history as well,” Taguchi said. “This is something that is so important to know because it's so important to not let history repeat itself.”

The exhibit included photos and information about her grandparents and was featured in the Rose Art Gallery on campus for two weeks.

To create the project, she sifted through archives at the Library of Congress, looking through newspapers from the 10 camps to find ones to include in the exhibit. She searched thrift shops for belongings people had in the 1940s to illustrate what they might have brought with them to the camps. She also painted scenes from the camps and created custom ink stamps for a postcard. She had to keep the information on signs interesting yet short to keep people reading.

Taguchi worked with Kristi Lippire, professor of visual art, to arrange the gallery and figure out what materials to use and how to design an immersive environment, from creating the illusion that the visitor is outside a camp to then walking between two barracks.

“It was nice being able to go back and forth with her,” Taguchi said. “To have that kind of support is very much needed for this kind of subject, so it was very reassuring.”

Lippire said she encouraged Taguchi to share her family legacy and instructed her on how to pair that with the construction and design.

“She had to do a lot of visitor education, so the text had to be tight and concise,” Lippire said. “I am very proud of the vulnerability and honesty that she brought to this difficult subject.”

Taguchi’s grandfather is no longer living, and health issues prevented her grandmother from visiting but she saw photos and was glad that Taguchi is educating others. Some family members did attend the reception, including a great-uncle who was born in the Poston camp. He discovered his name was included on a sign giving her grandfather’s history.

“When he came in, he pointed out, ‘That's me,” Taguchi said. “It was wonderful to watch him share his story. Everyone was so welcoming to hear his story. To have someone be that living history was so amazing.”

As Taguchi was growing up, her grandmother talked little about her experience. When Taguchi was in fourth grade and her history book only included a brief mention of the internment camps, Taguchi went home asking for more information. She convinced her grandmother to share her story with her class. Her Nana continued to share her story with other classes and Sunday School classes. Eventually her husband did so as well.

During the two weeks the exhibit was open, more family members came. Taguchi was honored because her family does not talk much about their history, she said.

“It meant so much to see how my family was willing to come here to support this,” she said. “For Japanese, it is better to not say anything. The thinking in their head is that it cannot be helped. It happened. There's nothing you can do about it now. You keep going.”

Taguchi is in contact with museums in hopes of sharing her exhibit.

Her family members were “genuinely proud” and grateful of the exhibit, Taguchi said.

“They told me that it is so important to not let these stories stay in the shadows,” Taguchi said. “When my family told me they wanted me to keep going, I felt relieved. I think this entire time I've carried the weight of this subject, and I've carried the weight of wanting to do their stories justice.”