Heart Mountain - Wyoming's Japanese Internment Camp
The bombing of Pearl Harbor at the onset of WWII pushed America into a state of war as well as uncomfortable political and racial tension to say the least. Fearing complications with the American descendants of their new enemy, the US government forced Japanese-Americans to leave their lives and move into camps for years, only to give them a bus ticket out of state at the war's end.
While most of America has tried to forget that this happened, a community in Wyoming chose to do the opposite and remind about just what happened under the shadow of Heart Mountain.
Heart Mountain: Tom Brokaw Praises Japanese-Americans
The more than 14,000 people held at the Heart Mountain Internment Camp near Cody showed an amazing ability to support their country despite the fact it imprisoned them, newscaster Tom Brokaw said at the camp last weekend.
Tom Brokaw, the featured guest at the annual Heart Mountain Internment Camp Pilgrimage, praised those incarcerated for their patriotism while held at the camp.
“You were abused and went on with your lives and make continuing contributions to this country,” he said. “You’re here because you know you’re Americans and we all learn from you. And so I say God bless.”
The Heart Mountain Internment Camp was one of 10 established across the country to house Americans of Japanese descent during World War II because of concerns they might hold allegiance to their original homeland and pose a threat to the United States.
While in operation from June 1942 to November of 1945, the camp was the third largest city in the state.
During the camp’s operation, many friendships were formed, including one between former U.S. Sen. Al Simpson and Norm Mineta, former secretary for the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Appearing with Al Simpson during the pilgrimage, Norm Mineta recalled the sadness he felt when his government imprisoned an entire race of people.
“These placards went up,” he said. “Instructions to all those of Japanese ancestry. Aliens and non-aliens. And I was a 10-yar-old kid and I saw that placard. And I said to my brother who was nine years older, I said ‘Al, what’s a non-alien?’ He said ‘That’s you.’ And I said ‘I’m not a non-alien, I’m a citizen!”
For the past eight years, the Heart Mountain Foundation has organized the pilgrimage to the camp as a commemoration to those held there.
Shirley Ann Higuchi, the foundation’s chair, said Wyoming communities have been very supportive of the foundation’s efforts to preserve the memory of the injustice done to the families held at the camp.
“They have come around to really support us and really make us the best that we can be,” she said. “So it’s just an overwhelmingly emotional, touching, in many ways a heartbreaking experience when we try to think back historically on how many people had actually suffered here.”
President Jimmy Carter on the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center
These are a few excerpts from a statement by former President Jimmy Carter on the occasion of the Grand Opening of the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center outside Cody and Powell, Wyoming.
Heart Mountain Relocation Center Focus of Mock Trial at UW Law School
This spring semester’s Spence Law Firm Historic Trial at the University of Wyoming explored the conflicting ideologies surrounding the military draft of Japanese-Americans incarcerated at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center near Cody and Powell during World War II.
The UW College of Law hosted the third annual mock trial Monday, April 10, at 6:30 p.m. in the College of Law large moot courtroom (Room 178). The mock trial was free and open to the public.
UW law students will act as attorneys, with the assistance of actual attorneys.
While imprisoned in one of 10 internment camps across the nation during World War II, Japanese-Americans were still subject to the military draft. This became a divisive issue in the camps, especially at Heart Mountain. While some believed military service was a chance to show patriotism to the United States, others felt that their constitutional rights should be restored before being required to perform a mandatory service.
Those with the latter view formed the Fair Play Committee, which was led by real-life internee Frank Emi. Tensions between members of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee and anti-resister internees highlighted the difficulties faced by an entire group of people whose civil liberties were violated.
For the mock trial, the fictional libel case of Emi v. Kawai is based upon an anti-Fair Play Committee editorial published by the Heart Mountain Sentinel, the internees’ camp newspaper. In the mock trial, Emi is suing the editorial writer for libel, alleging that the piece contained false statements.
Third-year UW College of Law student Mikole Soto, of Sheridan, and Cheyenne attorney Terry Mackey (B.A. 1968 and J.D. 1970, both from UW) will represent Emi and the Fair Play Committee. Second-year UW law student Joel Defebaugh, of Casper, and supervising Assistant Attorney General Christyne Martens (J.D. 2010 from UW) will represent Nobu Kawai and the Heart Mountain Sentinel.
“With the chosen case for this year being both so close to home and in recent history, the College of Law is fortunate to have living descendants of those actually affected by the internment camp participating in the trial, playing witnesses and serving in other roles,” says Christine Reed, College of Law director of communications.
Special guests include Grace Kubota Ybarra, in the role of her mother, who served as an unofficial secretary for the Fair Play Committee; plus descendants Kevin Inouye, Darrell Kunitomi, Josh Watanabe and Jack Ybarra.
Sociology and anthropology Instructor Aura Newlin (B.A. 2003 from UW), from Northwest College in Powell, and other officials from the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center provided substantial assistance to the College of Law for this year’s trial, Reed says. Newlin also had relatives interned at Heart Mountain Center.
The mock trial was live-streamed at both Northwest College and the Heart Mountain Interpretative Center.
In addition to the trial, the College of Law will host a series of panels paying homage to the 75th anniversary of the World War II internment order that created Heart Mountain. Parallels between the past and present will be discussed.
For more information about Heart Mountain Week, visit the UW College of Law website at uwyo.edu/law/events/heart-mountain-events/.
A Production of University of Wyoming Television
Producer/Editor: Ali Grossman
Cameras: Ali Grossman and Cameron Patey
Production Assistant: Pat Wolfinbarger
Copyright 2017
Heart Mountain Relocation Camp Exploration by WASP
WASP does a day investigation at the historic Heart Mountain Relocation Camp. Do the Spirits of the past still live there?
For more information on the internment camp, Plese visit HeartMountain.org
Japanese American Incarceration: An Interview with Danielle Constein
“The internment of the individuals of Japanese ancestry was caused by racial prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.”
How did 120,000 people end up in concentration camps in the United States during World War II? Danielle Constein, who oversees operations at the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center (located between Cody and Powell, Wyoming) joins the show to discuss this often-overlooked chapter in American history.
How did religion affect the attitudes of believers towards the incarceration, and the subsequent conflict over the draft?
For information or to become a member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, visit
To make a donation to the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, please visit
Aura Newlin - Japanese Americans in Wyoming
Northwest College faculty member Aura Newlin provides a present day look back at the Japanese Internment Camp at Heart Mountain.
Aura Newlin || The World Needs More Cowboys & So Does Wyoming
To say Aura Newlin has an interesting Wyoming story is an understatement. The University of Wyoming alumna, now a Northwest College assistant professor of anthropology and sociology, is a fourth-generation Wyomingite and a fourth-generation Japanese American whose family was incarcerated for three years at Heart Mountain.
After growing up in Riverton, Newlin completed her bachelor’s degree in ethnomusicology at UW in 2003 and went on to get a master’s degree in anthropology at Case Western Reserve University, where she also completed her Ph.D. coursework. She is now resuming her Ph.D. research through CWRU while continuing her role as a faculty member at Northwest College.
She believes it’s important for future generations to learn about Japanese-American incarceration during World War II. Since 2013, Newlin has served on the board of directors of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. The foundation works to educate the public about the WWII Japanese American incarceration experience, preserve and memorialize the Heart Mountain confinement site, and highlight this history’s relevance to the preservation of liberty and civil rights for all Americans today.
This video premiered at The World Needs More Cowboys Celebration in Cody on October 10 in the Buffalo Bill Center of the West’s Draper Natural History Museum. Event details are available at: The Park County event was the second of 12 monthly events around the state in counties where UW alumni featured in the advertising live and work.
Video produced by University of Wyoming
Original Music: Michael Chikuzen Gould on Shakuhachi Bamboo Flute
Aerial Footage: Northwest Community College and Japanese American Memorial Pilgrimages
Flight in B-25 Mitchell Bomber - Heart Mountain Wyoming
Short clip of part of a flight I filmed in a B-25D Mitchell Bomber taking off and soaring around Heart Mountain in northwest Wyoming, USA; July 4, 2012. It's not perfect but it was fun to make, and I hope you enjoy watching it.
Northwest College, Powell Wyoming- international project
WingsNWheels2012.avi
A short video of some of the fun from the 2012 Wings and Wheels event in Powell Wyoming.
CV The Office
Campus Ventures at Northwest College in Powell Wyoming! Witness all it's glory in amazing technicolor! The Office style!
Douglas vs. Powell - 3A Football State Championship 11/15/13
Douglas vs. Powell - 3A Football State Championship 11/15/13
The Call of Migratory Things | Nina McConigley || Radcliffe Institute
As part of the 2019–2020 Fellows’ Presentation Series at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Nina McConigley RI ’20 prepares the listener with some background for her upcoming novel before reading from the work in progress.
McConigley is a fiction writer and an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming. She is the 2019–2020 Walter Jackson Bate Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.
For information about the Radcliffe Institute and its many public programs, visit
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Wyoming Republican Gubernatorial Primary Debates - 2018
Sponsored by Wyoming Public Media and WyomingPBS. June 12, Cheyenne, WY
You Bet Your Life: Secret Word - Tree / Milk / Spoon / Sky
Julius Henry Groucho Marx (October 2, 1890 -- August 19, 1977) was an American comedian and film and television star. He is known as a master of quick wit and widely considered one of the best comedians of the modern era. His rapid-fire, often impromptu delivery of innuendo-laden patter earned him many admirers and imitators. He made 13 feature films with his siblings the Marx Brothers, of whom he was the third-born. He also had a successful solo career, most notably as the host of the radio and television game show You Bet Your Life. His distinctive appearance, carried over from his days in vaudeville, included quirks such as an exaggerated stooped posture, glasses, cigar, and a thick greasepaint mustache and eyebrows. These exaggerated features resulted in the creation of one of the world's most ubiquitous and recognizable novelty disguises, known as Groucho glasses, a one-piece mask consisting of horn-rimmed glasses, large plastic nose, bushy eyebrows and mustache.
Groucho Marx was, and is, the most recognizable and well-known of the Marx Brothers. Groucho-like characters and references have appeared in popular culture both during and after his life, some aimed at audiences who may never have seen a Marx Brothers movie. Groucho's trademark eye glasses, nose, mustache, and cigar have become icons of comedy—glasses with fake noses and mustaches (referred to as Groucho glasses, nose-glasses, and other names) are sold by novelty and costume shops around the world.
Nat Perrin, close friend of Groucho Marx and writer of several Marx Brothers films, inspired John Astin's portrayal of Gomez Addams on the 1960s TV series The Addams Family with similarly thick mustache, eyebrows, sardonic remarks, backward logic, and ever-present cigar (pulled from his breast pocket already lit).
Alan Alda often vamped in the manner of Groucho on M*A*S*H. In one episode, Yankee Doodle Doctor, Hawkeye and Trapper put on a Marx Brothers act at the 4077, with Hawkeye playing Groucho and Trapper playing Harpo. In three other episodes, a character appeared who was named Captain Calvin Spalding (played by Loudon Wainwright III). Groucho's character in Animal Crackers was Captain Geoffrey T. Spaulding.
On many occasions, on the 1970s television sitcom All In The Family, Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner), would briefly imitate Groucho Marx and his mannerisms.
Two albums by British rock band Queen, A Night at the Opera (1975) and A Day at the Races (1976), are named after Marx Brothers films. In March 1977, Groucho invited Queen to visit him in his Los Angeles home; there they performed '39 a capella. A long-running ad campaign for Vlasic Pickles features an animated stork that imitates Groucho's mannerisms and voice. On the famous Hollywood Sign in California, one of the Os is dedicated to Groucho. Alice Cooper contributed over $27,000 to remodel the sign, in memory of his friend.
In 1982, Gabe Kaplan portrayed Marx in the film Groucho, in a one-man stage production. He also imitated Marx occasionally on his previous TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter.
Actor Frank Ferrante has performed as Groucho Marx on stage for more than two decades. He continues to tour under rights granted by the Marx family in a one-man show entitled An Evening With Groucho in theaters throughout the United States and Canada with piano accompanist Jim Furmston. In the late 1980s Ferrante starred as Groucho in the off-Broadway and London show Groucho: A Life in Revue penned by Groucho's son Arthur. Ferrante portrayed the comedian from age 15 to 85. The show was later filmed for PBS in 2001. Woody Allen's 1996 musical Everyone Says I Love You, in addition to being named for one of Groucho's signature songs, ends with a Groucho-themed New Year's Eve party in Paris, which some of the stars, including Allen and Goldie Hawn, attend in full Groucho costume. The highlight of the scene is an ensemble song-and-dance performance of Hooray for Captain Spaulding—done entirely in French.
In the last of the Tintin comics, Tintin and the Picaros, a balloon shaped like the face of Groucho could be seen in the Annual Carnival.
In the Italian horror comic Dylan Dog, the protagonist's sidekick is a Groucho impersonator whose character became his permanent personality.
The BBC remade the radio sitcom Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel, with contemporary actors playing the parts of the original cast. The series was repeated on digital radio station BBC7. Scottish playwright Louise Oliver wrote a play named Waiting For Groucho about Chico and Harpo waiting for Groucho to turn up for the filming of their last project together. This was performed by Glasgow theatre company Rhymes with Purple Productions at the Edinburgh Fringe and in Glasgow and Hamilton in 2007-08. Groucho was played by Scottish actor Frodo McDaniel.
Protecting National Security & Civil Liberties
The second annual Daniel K. Inouye Distinguished Lecture at the Library of Congress featured former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta and former U.S. Sen. Alan K. Simpson, who discussed how the United States balances national security with the protection of Americans' civil liberties. Former White House correspondent Ann Compton, who covered both leaders during their long years of public service, moderated.
For transcript and more information, visit