The Heart Mountain Relocation Center, an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during World War II, was set up under the relocation program administered by the War Relocation Authority (WRA). The camp was located 12 miles west of Powell and 13 miles east of Cody in Park County, Wyoming. This location met certain WRA criteria: it was on public land, was large enough to accommodate the expected population, was far from any strategic areas, and could provide internees with local work projects.
The Japanese-Americans interned at Heart Mountain had been relocated from the West Coast, the area affected by President Roosevelt's executive orders for relocation. The first internees arrived in August 1942. By 1943, the population had reached almost 10,800, making the camp the third largest city in Wyoming. Within the camp were schools, a hospital, a library, a volunteer fire department, stores, and industries. Internees produced the
The collection contains publications and printed items produced at Heart Mountain between 1942 and 1945 and publications and clippings pertaining to the Heart Mountain relocation center and the relocation program but produced by other sources between 1942 and 1944.
The collection is divided into five series:
Series I: Memoranda, 1 folder, 1942-1943
Series II: Heart Mountain Publications, 5 folders, 1942-1943
Series III:
Series IV: Publications from WRA and Other Government Agencies, 3 folders, 1942-1943
Series V: Clippings, 3 folders, 1942-1944
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.
[Name of document or photograph number], Heart Mountain War Relocation Center Collection, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
Gift of Sidney Melby, 1977.
Series III, the
There are materials from Heart Mountain in the Japanese-American evacuation and resettlement records at the Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
The Hoover Institution Archives hold two collections related to Heart Mountain: the Toshio Kimura letters and a group of letters from two Japanese-American schoolgirls.
This series consists of memoranda produced by various administrators of the War Relocation Authority at Heart Mountain. Most of the memoranda deal with school administration; a few deal with other subjects such as community programs and war bond purchases. A WRA Application for Leave Clearance is included here.
Arranged chronologically.
Included in this series are: General Information Bulletins, which are community newsletters; Heart Mountain Reports, issued by the Reports Division, which provide camp statistics and progress reports; school and community publications, including newspapers, announcements, programs, and a teachers' handbook; and supplements in English and Japanese to the
Arranged chronologically and alphabetically by topic.
The series consists of one reel of microfilm containing complete issues of the weekly camp newspaper, the
Arranged chronologically.
This series consists of items pertaining to the Heart Mountain relocation center and the relocation program in general, produced by the War Relocation Authority, the Smithsonian Institution, and the U.S. Senate. Included here is a 32-page WRA bibliography of newspaper and magazine articles, pamphlets, books, manuscripts, WRA documents, and other bibliographies relating to the WRA, the Japanese, and Japanese-Americans. Also included is a copy of the form, "Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry," which adult males were required to fill out.
Arranged chronologically and alphabetically by topic.
The series consists of newspaper and magazine clippings about the Heart Mountain relocation center, the relocation program in general, and attitudes toward the Japanese. Included in both the dated and undated folders are columns written by internee Bill Hosokawa for the
Arranged chronologically, with one folder of undated items.