Dr. Kenneth Carlson, was a prominent minister for the First United Methodist church in the Southern California area for decades. He became well known in the area and well beyond from his 30 plus years of weekly broadcasts. Some called him the Norman Vincent Peale (a well-known figure of the time) of the West Coast, a person whose message was positive, timely and always purposeful in lifting people up in the era of great preacher/orators.

When he was a young man in his early 30’s he was the minister of the Central Methodist Church in Glendale. In 1944 he chose to personally visit Manzanar on a humanitarian basis and gained access to the camp in order to spend some time with the internees and view the conditions there.

After visiting Manzanar he made a decision to make it the topic of his Sunday morning sermon titled, “So I Went To Manzanar”. Despite much pushback from the community and threats (including death threats) he did what he felt was right and delivered this important message. 

This sermon was thought lost when it couldn’t be found to be included in a book that was published posthumously that contained content from his lifetime of work. It was discovered recently in the archives of the Santa Monica First Methodist church, where Dr. Carlson had served for 12 years, after the Manzanar sermon. 

People who have read it are struck by his courage in delivering this sermon and also his attempt at educating people about the prejudice and fanatical bitterness towards the Japanese people stirred up by some of the press and other prejudiced factions. He also strived to humanize the Japanese people and their culture in order to try and create empathy and understanding in the context of the times and the audience he was trying to reach. 

The story of a young man who went against the grain and courageously followed his ideals and beliefs is one of hope and shows that there were regular people who stood up and exposed the wrong that was being done.  

He dedicated his ministry and life’s work to making people’s lives better with his message and his deeds, and was one to never shy away from taking an unpopular stand if he thought it was right. 

Over 30 years after Manzanar he again took an unpopular stand towards events that occurred during the Vietnam War. Once again, he received death threats and special agents were dispatched and then posted undercover in the sanctuary that day. As with Manzanar he held true to his convictions, although that Sunday when he preached about Manzanar he stood alone without protection.