| title | Coalition to Save the Legacy Sakura of Oppenheimer Park fonds |
| general material designation | [textual material and moving images] |
| extent | 2 cm and 2 dvds |
| date | 2008-2014 |
| scope and content | The fonds consists of four series surrounding the activities carried out by the Coalition to Save the Legacy Sakura of Oppenheimer Park in 2008. The first series is administrative papers amassed by the Coalition. The second series are letters written by various esteemed people petitioning to the Vancouver Park Board to keep the trees. The third series is pages signed by the petitioners. And the fourth series is a collection of newspaper clippings about the Coalition and the trees. |
| biography | The Coalition to Save the Legacy Sakura of Oppenheimer Park was a group of individuals and organizations who formed in 2008 to stop the removal of the Legacy Sakura from Oppenheimer Park in Vancouver, BC.
The sakura trees, a huge cultural significance in the Japanese and Japanese Canadian culture, were planted by first-generation immigrant Japanese elders in 1977 to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to BC shores. The trees also marked the symbolic return of the Japanese Canadian community to the Powell Street area in 1970s after their forced removal in 1942.
In early 2008, Vancouver CIty approved a proposed redevelopment for the park, which included the removal of several Legacy Sakura. In response, the Coalition worked with stakeholders of the park to save the trees and ensure the history of the trees was heard and respected. After much work, two Kwanzan sakura trees were removed and destroyed by the City’s Parks Board in the fall of 2008 but the majority were saved.
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| number | 2011.4
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| organisation | Nikkei National Museum |
| access | Open |