Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Heart Mountain War Relocation Center (Wyo.) Collection, 1942-1945
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Heart Mountain War Relocation Center (Wyo.)
- Title
- Heart Mountain War Relocation Center (Wyo.) Collection
- Dates
- 1942-1945 (inclusive)19421945
- Quantity
- 0.5 linear feet, 1 reel microfilm
- Collection Number
- Mss106 (collection)
- Summary
- The Heart Mountain Relocation Center was World War II internment camp for Japanese-Americans in Park County, Wyoming. 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.
- Repository
-
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu - Access Restrictions
-
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.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Funding for creating this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
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 Heart Mountain Sentinel and other publications. The last internees left the camp in November 1945.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
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.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
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.
Preferred Citation
[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.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
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: Heart Mountain Sentinel, one reel microfilm 1942-1945
Series IV: Publications from WRA and Other Government Agencies, 3 folders, 1942-1943
Series V: Clippings, 3 folders, 1942-1944
Acquisition Information
Gift of Sidney Melby, 1977.
Processing Note
Series III, the Heart Mountain Sentinel, was microfilmed by the K. Ross Toole Archives in December 1982. In March 1998, the collection was redescribed. Photocopies were made of items such as newspaper clippings where the original paper had deteriorated. Dates were determined for some newspaper clippings; these clippings were moved from the "undated" to the "dated" folder.
Related Materials
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.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
Series I: Memoranda , 1942-1943Return to Top
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.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1/1 | Memoranda |
1942-1943 |
Series II: Heart Mountain Publications , 1942-1943Return to Top
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 Heart Mountain Sentinel. Oversize items separated to Box 2.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1/2 | General Information Bulletins
|
1942 |
| 1/3 | Heart Mountain Reports
|
1942-1943 |
| 1/4 | Heart Mountain school and
community publications |
1942-1943 |
| 2/1 | Heart Mountain school and
community children's newspapers |
undated |
| 1/5 |
Heart Mountain Sentinel
|
Supplement 1942 |
Series III: Heart Mountain Sentinel , 1942-1945Return to Top
The series consists of one reel of microfilm containing complete issues of the weekly camp newspaper, the Heart Mountain Sentinel, from November 21, 1942, to July 14, 1945. Not every weekly issue is present. Some Japanese editions are included.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Reel | ||
| 1 |
Heart Mountain Sentinel
|
1942-1945 |
Series IV: Publications from WRA and Other Government Agencies , 1942-1943Return to Top
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.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1/6 | WRA Bibliography |
1942-1943 |
| 1/7 | WRA documents and reports
|
1942-1943 |
| 1/8 | Other government documents
|
1943 |
Series V: Clippings , 1942-1944Return to Top
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 Cody Enterprise. Hosokawa, the editor of the Heart Mountain Sentinel, continued his journalism career after he left the camp; he also wrote Nisei: The Quiet Americans, published in 1969 by William Morrow and Co. A few clippings are incomplete. The source of the clippings is not always shown. Oversize clippings separated to Box 2.
| Container(s) | Description | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Box/Folder | ||
| 1/9 | Newspaper clippings |
1942-1943 |
| 1/10 | Newspaper clippings |
undated |
| 2/2 |
Life magazine clippings |
1942-1944 and undated |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Japanese Americans--Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Wyoming
Form or Genre Terms
- Concentration camp inmates' writings--Wyoming
- Japanese American newspapers--Wyoming
Other Creators
-
Corporate Names
- United States. War Relocation Authority
Finding aid prepared by Erica Olsen
1998
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
