A Japanese-American interment camp from the Second World War in Colorado, preserved for years by local students, has been folded into the care of the National Park Service.

As a new National Historic Site, the Amache Internment Camp is now part of the Service's commitment to tell the entire story of American history, good and bad.

But the real story lies in the work of the Amache Preservation Society (APS), a group of volunteer students from the local school district of Granada RE1, in southeast Colorado, led for 30 years by John Hopper.

A social studies teacher in 1993, Hopper, who doesn't have Japanese ancestry, was teaching some "really bright students" who turned a one-time class project speaking with a survivor of the camp, whom Hopper's family knew, into an-always operational preservation society, and focused on giving class presentations, operating a museum, and maintaining the site—a large collection of government-issue barracks where thousands of innocent Japanese Americans were detained.

"It is a heavy, heavy topic, especially when you talk about civil liberties," Hopper told Christian Science Monitor. "But that's part of my job I enjoy talking about—needs to be talked about."

The APS works on presentations to other schools; in recent years it also began organizing trips to Japan to stay with host families and do their presentations in Japanese high schools.

"I can't think of any group that does more for Amache," Calvin Taro Hada, an Amache descendant and Japanese community leader, told CS Monitor.

In 2006, Amache was designated a historic landmark, and last month, President Biden designated the camp a National Historic Site—announcing the intention to transfer responsibility and ownership of the town of Granada to the National Park Service.

Though Hopper is now Dean of Students and not in the classroom, students from the same school still run tours of the site, mow the lawns, and even pursue occasional excavations under the supervision of the University of Denver.

"It is our solemn responsibility as caretakers of America's national treasures to tell the whole story of our nation's heritage for the benefit of present and future generations," said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. "The National Park Service will continue working closely with key stakeholders dedicated to the preservation of Amache, [including the APS…] to preserve and interpret this significant historic site to the public."

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