"The Monterey Petition is a textbook example of people standing up for what the country should be about."
About
A local historian in Monterey, CA made the extraordinary discovery of a 16mm film from 1938, capturing the local Japanese American community enjoying time at the wharf and playing baseball. Alongside this remarkable, never-before-seen footage of a community on the brink of upheaval was a trove of signed petitions advocating for the restoration of civil rights to this same American community.
ENDURING DEMOCRACY: THE MONTEREY PETITION tells the story of the historian's incredible discovery and the petition drive led by John Steinbeck's editor and a group of daring women protesting the Japanese American incarceration and racism in WWII California.
Trailer
Watch
It is our mission to share the film’s messages of diversity, resilience, resistance, and hope. The film is available in two versions: the original hourlong and a thirty-minute educational version.
National Public Television Tour
Check your local station for airdates in your area.
Also available to stream through your PBS.org or the PBS app (for individual home screening only).
FEATURED AIRDATES
Denver, Colorado
5/23/25 @10pm
Indianapolis, Indiana
5/21/25 @8pm
New York, New York
5/19/25 @12am
San Mateo (San Francisco), California
5/19/25 @8pm
Honolulu, Hawaii
5/17/25 @9pm
Spokane, Washington
5/13/25 @9pm
Santa Fe & Albuquerque, New Mexico
5/11/25 @9pm
San Bernadino (Los Angeles), CA
5/4/25 & 5/8/25 @7pm
Salt Lake City, Utah
5/7/25 @9pm
Orlando, Florida
5/4/25 @8pm
Cotati (NorCal), California
5/1/25 @10pm
Jacksonville & Savannah, Georgia
7/23/25 @6pm
Duluth, Minnesota
7/4/25 @7pm
Wichita, Kansas
7/1/25 @2pm
Washington, D.C.
6/11/25 @7pm
South Carolina
5/25/25 @7:30pm
Educational Screenings
Want to screen Enduring Democracy at your University, College, or Library?
We are proud to partner with Collective Eye Films.
Community Screenings
You can bring the film’s message and themes to your community group, organization, or K-12 school.
Interested in hosting a screening in your community?
Educator’s Guide
Bring the film to your classroom or community group with the Enduring Democracy Educator’s Guide! Filled with: Lesson plans, resources, map of internment camps, historical perspectives, and a civil liberties overview.
You can download this FREE resource below.
Enduring Democracy: The Monterey Petition
is presented by the JACL of the Monterey Peninsula
The Monterey Peninsula Japanese American Citizens League Japanese American Heritage Center mission is to collect, maintain, and preserve the Japanese cultural legacy of the Monterey Peninsula. The Museum collects artifacts, images, and documents that collectively define the local cultural history of the Issei Nisei and following generations. The Heritage Center also sponsors programs and projects that are consistent with the mission of furthering cultural understanding and the JACL’s mission of civil rights.
Find out more about the JACL and the Heritage Center.