Heart Mountain High School Tempo

Heart Mountain High School Tempo, 1945

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Heart Mountain High School
Title: Heart Mountain High School Tempo
Dates: 1945 (inclusive)
19451945
Quantity: 0.2 Linear feet of shelf space, (1 Item)
Collection Number: SC 014.10 (collection)
Summary: This collection contains the 1945 issue of the Tempo, the Heart Mountain High School yearbook. The book once belonged to the Assistant Principal of Heart Mountain High School, Ralph A. Forsythe. Heart Mountain was an incarceration camp where adults and children of Japanese ancestry were imprisoned without due process during World War II.
Repository: Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions: This collection is open and available for research use.
Languages: English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Students at Heart Mountain Relocation Center in northwest Wyoming began classes in October 1942. During this first school year, classes were held in repurposed barracks. On May 27, 1943, Heart Mountain High School was completed. Roughly 1500 students attended Heart Mountain High School during its first year of operation (1943-1944). The school remained open for the 1944-1945 school year before closing as result of the decision to close the camps by the fall of 1945.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

Executive Order 9066:

In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the incarceration from 1942 to 1946 of approximately 120,000 adults and children of Japanese ancestry, many of whom were United States citizens. They were expelled from their homes and placed in incarceration camps without due process and in violation of their civil rights. These camps were euphemistically referred to as “relocation centers” or “internment camps”. After decades of advocacy by the Japanese American community, in 1988 the United States issued a formal apology and began redress to survivors of Japanese incarceration during World War II.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This collection consists of one copy of the 1945 Heart Mountain High School incarceration camp yearbook, the Tempo. The 1945 issue was the second of two issues, the first printed the year before in 1944. The book once belonged to the Assistant Principal of Heart Mountain High School, Ralph A. Forsythe.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Preferred Citation

Heart Mountain High School Tempo, 1945 (SC 014.10)

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

The Heart Mountain High School Tempo was donated by John A. Forsythe and delivered by Patti Hirahara in 2015 (MS 2015.06). The item was originally owned by John Forsythe's father, Ralph A. Forsythe.

Processing Note

This collection was processed by Steven Bingo.

In 2021, in response to evolving societal understanding regarding the language used to describe the impact of Executive Order 9066, this finding aid was revised to more accurately provide context to the mass incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II.

Related Materials

George and Frank C. Hirahara Photograph Collection of Heart Mountain, Wyoming, 1932-2016 (SC 014)

Tom T. Hide Collection, 1925-2012 (SC 014.1)

Okubara Family Collection, circa 1943-2008 (SC 014.2)

Takeda Family Collection, 1938-circa 2012 (SC 014.3)

Kenneth Nishiyori Collection, 1942-1944 (SC 014.4)

George and Doris McIntyre Papers, 1944-1945 (SC 014.5)

Mari Tsuruyama Okumura Collection, 1936-2014 (SC 014.6)

Patti Hirahara Collection, 1955-2020 (SC 014.7)

Terry Ishihara Collection, 1989-2012 (SC 014.8)

Mike Mackey Collection, 1940-2002 (SC 014.9)

Fusataro Nakaya Photographs, circa 1944 (SC 014.11)

Nabata Family Collection of Heart Mountain Photographs, circa 1942-1945 (SC 014.12)

Frank Chin Oral History Collection, 1974-1986 (Cage 654)

Inez Puckett McEwen Collection on Japanese-American Incarceration, 1942-1943 (Cage 4923)

Japanese American Redress Collection, 1976-2000 (Cage 5126)

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Japanese Americans -- Forced removal and internment, 1942-1945

Corporate Names

Heart Mountain Relocation Center (Wyo.) -- History -- Sources

Archives West Finding Aid

Table of Contents