Heritage lecture in Goodyear explores internment camp rubber

 The P.W. Litchfield Heritage Center will host a presentation exploring a little-known chapter of World War II history that connects Japanese American incarceration, government rubber research and a desert shrub once seen as a potential wartime resource, linked to American poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

Arthur Nonomura, an adjunct professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Northern Arizona University, will present “The Poetic Journey of the Manzanar Guayule Tire” from 10 to 11 a.m. at Goodyear City Hall, 1900 N. Civic Square.

The lecture will examine the work of Japanese American scientists incarcerated at the Manzanar camp during World War II who, despite limited resources, advanced research on guayule, a desert shrub studied as an alternative source of rubber.

The program also will explore connections to American poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The Heritage Lecture Series is presented six times a year by the P.W. Litchfield Heritage Center in partnership with the city of Goodyear. More information is available at pwlhc.org.