Since the summer semester, the grounds department has been working on renovations for the Elizabeth Humbargar Tolerance Garden. The restoration of Humbargar Garden was reported on in a larger update of campus beautification projects at a study session on July 15.
According to Stacy Pinola, director of Facilities Planning and Management, the project came out of a joint request between Delta and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL).
Prior to the renovations, concrete near the benches and lights were broken, and aggressively spreading bamboo needed to be removed. As part of the work, concrete walkways were repaired, decomposed granite was added and new plants were planted in areas missing ground cover.
The renovations for the project use the original development plan for the garden location, which debuted as the Tolerance Garden with the opening of the DeRicco Building in 2009, according to news archives of DeRicco’s original construction partner Kitchell Progress. The garden was later dedicated to Elizabeth Humbargar by Delta and the Stockton chapter of the JACL on April 14, 2012.
According to Pinola, the restoration project cost around $15,000 and was paid for with Capital Projects funds. The restoration is expected to be completed soon after the upcoming installation of a few benches.
According to the book “In Good Conscience: Supporting Japanese Americans during the Internment” by author Shizue Seigel, Humbargar and her sister moved from Kansas to Stockton in the 1920s with her sister, later teaching English and math respectively at Stockton High School. During World War II, when Japanese American citizens were interned at the Stockton Assembly Center at the San Joaquin County Fairgrounds’ location and Nisei Military Intelligence Service soldiers were assigned to a POW camp 16 miles southwest of Stockton, Humbargar delivered aid to interned Japanese American students and housed Nisei soldiers that were confined to base.
After the end of World War II, Humbargar helped revive the Stockton chapter of the JACL. She later left Stockton High School to become a counselor and leader for the ESL education teaching program, retiring in 1969 after teaching for forty-four years. Humbargar passed away in 1989.
