Located in Cody, Wyoming, Heart Mountain concentration camp opened on August 12, 1942 and held over 10,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. Heart Mountain is perhaps best known for its inmates’ role in fomenting and supporting draft resistance amongst the Nisei during World War II.
Featured Collections
Okumoto Collection
Photograph collection of Yoshio Okumoto documenting his time at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center.
Fujii and Mori Families Collection
The Fujii and Mori Families Collection consists of 6 photograph albums documenting life in Tacoma and Vashon Island, Washington before World War II, incarceration at Heart Mountain and Jerome concentration camps and relocation to California after the war.
Evelyn Dell Collection
The Evelyn Dell Collection features photographs of Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming, where Ms. Dell worked as a fourth grade teacher.
Oral Histories
Role as Editor of the Heart Mountain Sentinel - Bill Hosokawa
Bill Hosokawa was sent to the Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming, during World War II, where he was the editor for the camp's newspaper, the Heart Mountain Sentinel. In this clip, he talks about the role of the paper in camp and a controversial decision about what to report.
First Impressions, and Early Resistance, at Heart Mountain
Kara Kondo grew up in Washington State’s Yakima Valley and was imprisoned at Heart Mountain during World War II. In this clip she describes the “tedious” journey from the Portland Assembly Center to Heart Mountain and the disorienting feeling of not knowing “where in the world I was.”
The Trial of the Heart Mountain Draft Resisters - Frank Emi
Frank Emi was one of the leaders of the Fair Play Committee at the Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming, during World War II. He was convicted of resisting the draft when the U.S. Army began drafting Japanese Americans out of camp, and was imprisoned for eighteen months at Leavenworth, Kansas. In this clip, Frank describes the trial for him and his fellow draft resisters from Heart Mountain.
Encyclopedia Entries
Heart Mountain
Located roughly eight miles away from its namesake, Heart Mountain concentration camp and its inmate population are perhaps best known for their role in fomenting and supporting draft resistance amongst the Nisei during World War II.
Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee
The Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee was a membership organization of draft-age Nisei men at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center that advocated for a restoration of Nisei civil rights as a precondition for compliance with the military draft and counseled noncompliance with the draft in order to create a test case of the lawfulness of conscripting the incarcerated Nisei.
Heart Mountain Sentinel (newspaper)
The Heart Mountain Sentinel (October 24, 1942 to July 28, 1945) was an eight-page, weekly tabloid publication that was conceived for the purposes of "keeping the residents advised of WRA policies and of maintaining morale in the center."
Blog Posts
Frozen Hair, Work Stoppages, and Other Lesser-Known Stories from Heart Mountain
Perhaps you know the Heart Mountain, Wyoming, concentration camp for stories of boyhood-friends-turned-congressmen Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson, for the draft resistance of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee, for the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, or for the half dozen or so documentary films about that camp.
Photo Essay: Yoshio Okumoto’s Views of Life in Heart Mountain
Many of the “iconic” photos of Japanese American incarceration that we are most familiar with today were taken by white photographers who worked as outsiders looking in. But, as the family collections in the Densho Digital Repository attest, there were also many Japanese Americans who documented their own experiences from within the camps.
Book Review: The Eagles of Heart Mountain
Densho Content Director Brian Niiya reviews The Eagles of Heart Mountain by Bradford Pearson, an entertaining and well-researched popular history of the incarceration told through the story of a group of young football players at Heart Mountain.
Educational Material Model Minority Myth
Recent violence targeting Asian Americans has been a painful reminder that the forces of racism and xenophobia that led to WWII incarceration are still very much part of our world. In a new collaboration between Densho and TED-Ed, we created a lesson that traces the history of the “model minority” myth and illustrates the damaging effects of racial stereotypes, even when they cast an entire group of people in a supposedly positive light.
Exploring Your Family History
Over the past two decades Densho’s extensive online resources have become increasingly useful as a tool for Japanese American families to explore their heritage. The Densho Family History Program’s mission is to help members of the Japanese American community connect with their history through education, training, access to genealogical tools, and preservation of historical materials.
Acknowledgement
Funding made possible by The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation.
