The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation announces a new exhibit examining American identity through the experiences of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. Despite unjust confinement, the 14,000 Heart Mountain incarcerees built vibrant lives, blending familiar American traditions with Japanese cultural practices. Through artifacts and testimony, the exhibit invites visitors to reconsider what it means to be American.
Some of the artifacts include a rare 48-star American flag signed by former incarcerees, a beautiful quilt made from vintage kimono fabric, a 1944 Heart Mountain High School yearbook and a GI Joe doll representing soldiers who served in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team.
“These artifacts have been chosen with care to exemplify the significance of the deeply American experience lived by Japanese Americans at the Heart Mountain camp,” said Rachyl Soloai, collections manager of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. “These unique artifacts tell the story of a people who endured under the most trying circumstances, and whose experiences are an integral part of America’s history.”
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, a Smithsonian Affiliate, preserves the site where some 14,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated in Wyoming from 1942 through 1945. Their stories are told within the foundation’s museum, Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, and its affiliated Mineta-Simpson Institute located between Cody and Powell. For more information, call the center at (307) 754-8000 or email info@heartmountain.org.
