Heart Mountain press releases include announcements about upcoming events, new exhibits, general news about the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation and the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, and other important information.
For high-resolution archival and contemporary photographs related to Heart Mountain and more information about the site and organization, consult our Media Kit or contact us at info@heartmountain.org with queries.
For news related to the Japanese American Confinement Sites Consortium (JACSC), click here.
Read through recent and past Heart Mountain press releases below:
Interpretive Center to Host Public Event During 2022 Pilgrimage
After the challenges presented by the pandemic, the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center is again hosting its first full in-person pilgrimage in two years. While most of the events are by registration only, the opening ceremony, featuring a screening of the song film Omoiyari along with a Q&A with the filmmakers, is free and open to the public.
Heart Mountain Applauds Senator Alan Simpson’s Award of Presidential Medal of Freedom
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation congratulates former Wyoming Senator Alan K. Simpson for being named as one of 17 Americans who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joseph Biden.
Heart Mountain Invites Muskego-Norway School Board for Visit
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, which operates a museum on the site of one of the 10 incarceration camps that held Japanese Americans during World War II, is extending a formal invitation to members of the Muskego-Norway School Board of Wisconsin to visit the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center and meet with staff and descendants of the incarceration.
Heart Mountain Awarded Mellon Foundation Grant
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation has received a $3.175 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, which will enable the foundation to take a giant step toward building the new Mineta-Simpson Institute and Conference Center at Heart Mountain.
Executive Director to Step Down
Dakota Russell, executive director of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, will leave his position May 31 to assume the leadership of the House of the Seven Gables Settlement Association in Salem, Mass.
In 1942, when 10-year-old Norman Yoshio Mineta was forced from his home in San Jose and incarcerated at the Heart Mountain concentration camp in Wyoming, his own government refused to acknowledge that he was a U.S. citizen. He was called a non-alien. That is why, until he passed away on May 3, 2022 at age 90, he cherished the word citizen.
Interpretive Center to Host First Children’s Day Festival
Heart Mountain Interpretive Center is hosting its first Children’s Day Festival on Saturday, May 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. This community centered event is open to the public with an admission fee of $15 per car.
Registration Now Open for the 2022 Heart Mountain Pilgrimage
Emerging from the challenges of the pandemic, the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation will host its first full in-person pilgrimage in two years. The 2022 Heart Mountain Pilgrimage will take place July 28-30, and feature workshops, film screenings, educational sessions, and breaking ground on the Mineta-Simpson Institute at Heart Mountain. Registration for the event is now open to the general public.
Heart Mountain Launches New Augmented Reality Tour of Historic Site
Visitors to Heart Mountain Interpretive Center can now experience the historic site in a new way, with a recently launched augmented reality tour. The tour combines stories from Japanese Americans incarcerated at the site during World War II with 3D animations drawn over the present-day landscape. The tour can be accessed via a free smartphone app, “Heart Mountain AR,” available in the Apple and Google Play stores.
Japanese American Organizations to Hold National Day of Remembrance Virtual Events
In recognition of the 80th anniversary of the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation will join with several other organizations– including the Friends of Minidoka, the Japanese American Citizens League, the Japanese American National Museum, the National Park Service, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders– on a collaborative virtual National Day of Remembrance program.
Heart Mountain Receives Grants From Wyoming Humanities Council
The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation recently received both an operating support grant and a programming grant from ThinkWY, the Wyoming Humanities Council. These grants, part of the American Rescue Plan Act, were created to help humanities organizations respond to and recover from the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Foundation will use the grant funds to continue publication of its successful quarterly magazine and to offer professional development opportunities for Wyoming educators.
Program Series at Heart Mountain Interpretive Center Explores Aspects of Camp Life
After a hiatus in 2021, Heart Mountain Interpretive Center will again host its annual Winter Program Series during the months of January, February, and April. Heart Mountain staff will present three programs: “In the Northern Country” on January 29; “Disability and Displacement” February 26; and “Faith at Heart Mountain” on April 2. All programs will begin at 1 pm. Programs are open to the public, but space is limited and registration is required.
