A proclamation from President Biden and video tributes from former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton helped open the new Mineta-Simpson Institute during the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation’s annual pilgrimage on July 25-27, 2024.
The Institute, created to spread the ideals of public service demonstrated by Secretary Norman Mineta and Senator Alan Simpson, features a 250-seat conference center, production studio and new archival and artifact storage.
Visiting speakers at the pilgrimage included Shelly Lowe, chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities; former U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-Calif.; Anthea Hartig, director of the National Museum of American History; Debra Kawahara, president-elect of the American Psychological Association; and Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum.
Simpson and Deni Mineta, wife of the late secretary of Commerce and Transportation, spoke on Saturday, July 27, about the importance of working with people from different backgrounds and with different political beliefs. Mineta and Simpson first met as Boy Scouts at the Heart Mountain camp in 1943. Mineta was incarcerated at the camp that held 14,000 Japanese Americans, while Simpson lived in nearby Cody, Wyoming.
Mineta and Simpson each received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from presidents from the opposite political party and were known for their ability to bridge partisan differences and get things done.
The Foundation presented its LaDonna Zall Compassionate Witness Award to Eric Muller, a University of North Carolina law professor who developed Heart Mountain’s permanent museum exhibit. He has also written four books about the Japanese American incarceration during World War II.
During the pilgrimage’s Friday session, participants watched a presentation of the play Question 27, Question 28 featuring actor Tamlyn Tomita, a Heart Mountain descendant who starred in The Karate Kid II and The Joy Luck Club, among dozens of film and television credits.
The pilgrimage drew 440 participants, including 180 first-time visitors. Forty-five former incarcerees, who are in their 80s and 90s, attended the event.