Sonny Lawson Park

First generation Japanese “Issei” brought baseball over with them from Japan, and saw it as a hopeful way to connect with Americans. Became a favorite socioeconomic and social pastime for Japanese Americans leading up to WWII - in the Camps was important way to boost morale, and Leagues continued through the 50’s and 60’s in America post WWII.

“Five Points Merchants, 1950s” (2021) - Artwork by LAUREN IIDA

The artwork on display on the side of the storage buildng was commissioned by the Japanese Arts Network with the support of the Denver Theatre District and created by artist Lauren Iida.

PLAY AUDIO TRACK

TRANSCRIBED INTERVIEW WITH MARY JANE OKAMATSU and MILTON DOMOTO

Mary Jane: My brother, speaking of the baseball team he belonged to. At Cole, he was in the ninth grade, All-American team. It was just [a] few years before that, that we had been let out of the camp, but they accomplished a lot just by belonging and feeling – just joining without thinking of color or anything. That was good, I think, back then.

Milton: When I was playing baseball, one of the games was at – this was 1967 – and we went to Cherry Creek. Some of the words that came out of the mouths of the cheerleaders at Cherry Creek in ‘67… you realize how much prejudice there was from people at Cherry Creek. Then you realize, man, there's a lot of prejudice coming out of people that lived out south.