Minidoka National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

. It commemorates the more than 13,000

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

s who were imprisoned at the Minidoka War Relocation Center during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

."Minidoka,"
Hanako Wakatsuki. ''Densho Encyclopedia'', 10 June 2013. Among the inmates, the

notation In linguistics and semiotics, a notation system is a system of graphics or symbols, Character_(symbol), characters and abbreviated Expression (language), expressions, used (for example) in Artistic disciplines, artistic and scientific disciplines ...

峰土香 or was sometimes applied. Located in the

Magic Valley The Magic Valley, also known as South Central Idaho, is a region in south-central Idaho constituting Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Twin Falls counties. It is particularly associated with the agricultural reg ...

of south central

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Hunt Hunting is the Human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, and killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to obtain the animal's body for meat and useful animal products (fur/hide (sk ...

, of Jerome County the site is in the

Snake River Plain The Snake River cutting through the plain leaves many canyons and Canyon#List of gorges, gorges, such as this one near Twin Falls, Idaho The Snake River Plain is a geology, geologic feature located primarily within the U.S. state of Idaho. ...

, a remote high desert area north east of the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

. It is northeast of Twin Falls and just north west of Eden, in an area known as Hunt. The site is administered by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all List ...

of the

U.S. Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relating t ...

, and was originally established as the Minidoka Internment National Monument in 2001. by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

Its

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

is just under above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

Minidoka War Relocation Center

The Minidoka War Relocation Center operated from 1942 to 1945 as one of ten camps at which

s, both citizens and resident "aliens", were

interned Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

during World War II. Under provisions of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a President of the United States, United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. "This order authorized the fo ...

, all persons of Japanese ancestry were excluded from the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

. At its peak, Minidoka housed 9,397

Japanese Americans are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian Americans, Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 United States census, 2000 census, they have declined in ...

, predominantly from

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

, and

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

. The Minidoka irrigation project shares its name with Minidoka County. The Minidoka name was applied to the Idaho relocation center in Hunt of Jerome County, probably to avoid confusion with the

Jerome War Relocation Center The Jerome War Relocation Center was a Japanese American internment camp located in southeastern Arkansas, near the town of Jerome, Arkansas, Jerome in the Arkansas Delta. Open from October 6, 1942, until June 30, 1944, it was the last American ...

Jerome, Arkansas Jerome is an unincorporated community and former town in Drew County, Arkansas, United States. On October 14, 2021, the Jerome City Council elected to surrender the town's charter and officially declared Jerome no longer in existence as an incor ...

. Construction by the Morrison-Knudsen Company began in 1942 on the camp, which received 10,000 internees by years' end. Many of the internees worked as farm labor, and later on the irrigation project and the construction of

Anderson Ranch Dam Anderson Ranch Dam is an Embankment dam, earth rockfill type dam in the Western United States, western United States, on the South Fork of the Boise River in Southwestern Idaho, southwestern Idaho. In Elmore County, Idaho, Elmore County northe ...

, northeast of Mountain Home. The Reclamation Act of 1902 had racial exclusions on labor which were strictly adhered to until

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

changed the law in 1943.National Park Service
- history - Anderson Ranch Dam & Powerplant, Idaho - accessed 2012-02-09 Population at the Minidoka camp declined to 8,500 at the end of 1943, and to 6,950 by the end of 1944. The camp formally closed on October 28, 1945. On February 10, 1946, the vacated camp was turned over to the U.S.

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it ...

, which used the facilities to house returning war veterans. The Minidoka War Relocation Center consisted of 44 blocks of housing. Each block contained 12 barracks (which themselves were divided into 6 separate living areas), laundry facilities, bathrooms, and a mess hall. Recreation Halls in each block were multi-use facilities that served as both worship and education centers. Minidoka had a high school, a junior high school and two elementary schools - Huntsville and Stafford. The Minidoka War Relocation Center also included two dry cleaners, four general stores, a beauty shop, two barber shops, radio and watch repair stores as well as two fire stations. In June 1942, the War Department authorized the formation of the 100th Infantry Battalion consisting of 1,432 men of Japanese descent in the Hawaii National Guard and sent them to Camps McCoy and Shelby for advanced training. Because of its superior training record, FDR authorized the formation of the

442nd Regimental Combat Team The 442nd Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the United States Army. The regiment including the 100th Infantry Battalion is best known as the most decorated unit in U.S. military history, and as a fighting unit composed almost ent ...

(RCT) in January 1943 when 10,000 men from Hawaii signed up with eventually 2,686 being chosen along with 1,500 from the mainland. The Minidoka Internees created an Honor Roll display to acknowledge the service of their fellow Japanese-Americans. According to Echoes of Silence, 844 men from this camp volunteered or were drafted for military service. Although the original was lost after the war, the Honor Roll was recreated by the Friends of Minidoka group in 2011 following a grant from the National Park Service.

Terminology

Since the end of World War II, there has been debate over the terminology used to refer to Minidoka, and the other camps in which Americans of Japanese ancestry and their immigrant parents, were incarcerated by the

United States Government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

during the war. Minidoka has been referred to as a "War Relocation Center", "relocation camp", "relocation center", "

internment camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

", and "

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

", and the controversy over which term is the most accurate and appropriate continues to the present day.

National Historic Site

The

site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on July 10, 1979. A

national monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a sp ...

was established in 2001 at the site by President

on January 17, as he invoked his authority under the

Antiquities Act The Antiquities Act of 1906 (, , ) is an act that was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt on June 8, 1906. This law gives the president of the United States the authority to, by presidential proclam ...

. As one of the newer units of the

National Park System The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government, within the US Department of the Interior. The service manages all national parks; most national monuments; and other natural, historical, and recreational ...

, it currently has temporary visitor facilities and services available on location. A new visitor contact station is being built and will open in 2020. Currently, visitors see the remains of the entry guard station, waiting room, and rock garden and can visit the Relocation Center display at the Jerome County Museum in nearby

Jerome Jerome (; ; ; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was an early Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, theologian, translator, and historian; he is commonly known as Saint Jerome. He is best known ...

and the restored barracks building at the Idaho Farm and Ranch Museum southeast of town. There is a small marker adjacent to the remains of the guard station, and a larger sign at the intersection of Highway 25 and Hunt Road, which gives some of the history of the camp. The National Park Service began a three-year public planning process in the fall of 2002 to develop a General Management Plan (GMP) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The General Management Plan sets forth the basic management philosophy for the Monument and provides the strategies for addressing issues and achieving identified management objectives that will guide management of the site for the next 15–20 years. In 2006, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

signed H.R. 1492 into law on December 21, guaranteeing $38 million in federal money to restore the Minidoka relocation center along with nine other former Japanese internment camps. Less than two years later on May 8, 2008, President Bush signed the Wild Sky Wilderness Act into law, which changed the status of the former

U.S. National Monument In the United States, a national monument is a protected area that can be created from any land owned or controlled by the Federal government of the United States, federal government by Presidential proclamation (United States), proclamation ...

to National Historic Site and added the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial on

Bainbridge Island Bainbridge Island is a city and island in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. It is located in Puget Sound. The population was 24,825 at the 2020 census, making Bainbridge Island the second largest city in Kitsap County. The island is se ...

, Washington to the monument. The Lava Ridge Wind Project has been proposed to be in the vicinity of the Minidoka site; the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

's preferred siting alternative reduced the project area by 50% to ensure all wind turbines would be at least 9 miles from Minidoka National Historic Site.

Notable Minidoka incarcerees

* Kichio Allen Arai (c. 1901 – 1966), an architect. *

Paul Chihara Paul Seiko Chihara (born July 9, 1938) is an American composer. Life and career Chihara was born in Seattle, Washington in 1938. A Japanese American, he spent three years of his childhood with his family in an internment camp in Minidoka, Idah ...

(born 1938), an American composer. * May Mayko Ebihara (1934–2005), an anthropologist. * Ken Eto (1919–2004), a Japanese American mobster with the

Chicago Outfit The Chicago Outfit, also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or the Organization, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family based in Chicago, I ...

and eventually an FBI informant. * Fumiko Hayashida (1911–2014), an American activist. Also interned at

Manzanar Manzanar is the site of one of ten American concentration camps, where more than 120,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated during World War II from March 1942 to November 1945. Although it had over 10,000 inmates at its peak, it was one ...

. *

Shizue Iwatsuki Shizue Iwatsuki (October 15, 1897 – July 7, 1984) was a Japanese American poet who immigrated to the US with her husband and children. She founded the Japanese Women's Society in Hood River, Oregon, and was the first Issei woman in Hood River ...

(1897–1984), a Japanese American poet. Also interned at

Tule Lake Tule Lake ( ) is an intermittent lake covering an area of , long and across, in northeastern Siskiyou County and northwestern Modoc County in California, along the border with Oregon. Geography Tule Lake is fed by the Lost River. The ele ...

. * Shiro Kashino (1922–1997), a decorated soldier in the United States Army during World War II. *

Taky Kimura Takauki "Taky" Kimura (March 12, 1924January 7, 2021) was an American martial artist who was best known as being one of Bruce Lee's top students and closest friends - and a certified instructor in Jun Fan Gung Fu, personally certified by Bruce Le ...

(1924–2021), a martial arts practitioner and instructor. Also interned at

. * Joseph Kitagawa (1915–1992), professor at the University of Chicago, known for his work in the history of religions *

Fujitaro Kubota Fujitaro Kubota (, 1879–1973) was a Japanese-born American gardener and philanthropist.Honor awarded 1972 -- Appelo, Tim "University of the Future: The physical transformation into a premier independent university," ''Seattle University Magazine. ...

(1879–1973), an American gardener and philanthropist. * Frank Kunishige (1878–1960), a well-known

pictorialist Pictorialism is an international style and aesthetic movement that dominated photography during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. There is no standard definition of the term, but in general it refers to a style in which the photographer ha ...

photographer, and a founder of the Seattle Camera Club. Also detained at

Camp Harmony Camp Harmony is the unofficial euphemistic name of the Puyallup Assembly Center, a temporary facility within the system of Japanese American internment, internment camps set up for Japanese Americans during World War II. Approximately 7,390 America ...

. * Aki Kurose (1925–1998), a Seattle teacher and civil rights activist. * Dr Kyo Koike (1878–1947), a respected surgeon and poet, who also was a noted photographer and a founder of the Seattle Camera Club. * John Matsudaira (1922–2007), an American painter. * Mich Matsudaira (1937–2019), an American businessman and civil rights activist. * Shig Murao (1926–1999), a San Francisco clerk who played a prominent role in the San Francisco Beat scene. * Mako Nakagawa (1937–2021), a Japanese American educator and former director of the Japanese American Cultural Heritage Program and the Rainbow Program *

William K. Nakamura William Kenzo Nakamura (, January 21, 1922 – July 4, 1944) was a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in World War II.US Army Center of Military ...

(1922–1944), a United States Army soldier and a recipient of the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...

. *

George Nakashima George Katsutoshi Nakashima ( ''Nakashima Katsutoshi'', May 24, 1905 – June 15, 1990) was an American woodworker and architect. In 1983, he accepted the Order of the Sacred Treasure, an honor bestowed by the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese ...

(1905–1990), a Japanese American woodworker, architect, and furniture maker. * Mira Nakashima (born 1942), an architect and furniture maker. * Kenjiro Nomura (1896–1956), a Japanese-American painter. * Frank Okada (1931–2000), an American Abstract Expressionist painter. * John Okada (1923–1971), a Japanese American writer. * James Sakamoto (1903–1955), a journalist, boxer and community organizer. * James Sakoda (1916–2005), a psychologist and pioneer in computational modeling. Also interned at

. *

Bell M. Shimada Bell Masayuki Shimada (January 17, 1922 - June 2, 1958) was an American fisheries scientist. He is noted for his study during the 1950s of tuna stocks in the tropical Pacific Ocean and its important effect on the development of the post-World W ...

(1922–1958), an American fisheries scientist. * Roger Shimomura (born 1939), an American artist and Professor of Art (ret). *

Monica Sone Monica Sone (September 1, 1919 – September 5, 2011), born Kazuko Itoi, was a Japanese American writer, best known for her 1953 autobiographical memoir ''Nisei Daughter'', which tells of the Japanese American experience in Seattle during the 192 ...

(1919–2011), a Japanese American novelist. * Gary A. Tanaka (born 1943), a Japanese American businessman. * Kamekichi Tokita (1897–1948), a Japanese American painter and diarist. *

Tama Tokuda Tama Tokuda (; July 2, 1920 ''–'' August 31, 2013) was a Japanese American performer and writer. As a young adult, she was incarcerated at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in Idaho. Biography Inouye was born in Seattle on July 2, 1920, to ...

(1920–2013), a performer and writer. * Chiye Tomihiro (1924–2012), an activist. * Mary Mon Toy (1916–2009), a Japanese-American actress, showgirl, and secretary. * Herbert T. Ueda (1929–2020), an American ice drilling engineer. * Newton K. Wesley (1917–2011), an optometrist and an early pioneer of the contact lens * Kenji Yamada (1924–2014), a two-time U.S. National Judo champion *

Mitsuye Yamada Mitsuye Yamada (born July 5, 1923) is a Japanese American poet, essayist, and feminist and human rights activist. She is one of the first and most vocal Asian American women writers to write about the wartime incarceration of Japanese Americans ...

(born 1923), a Japanese American writer. * Takuji Yamashita (1874–1959), an early 20th-century civil rights pioneer. Also interned at

and

. *

Minoru Yasui was an American lawyer from Oregon. Born in Hood River, Oregon, he earned both an undergraduate degree and his law degree at the University of Oregon. He was one of the few Japanese Americans after the bombing of Pearl Harbor who fought laws th ...

(1916–1986), a Japanese American lawyer who challenged the constitutionality of curfews used during World War II in Yasui v. United States.

References

External links

''Japanese Relocation'' (1943 FILM- viewable for free at not-for profit- The Internet Archive)

* *
Minidoka Relocation Center historical photographs
at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

Libraries Digital Collections
Paintings of Minidoka
by Ed Tsutakawa
Arthur Kleinkopf diary, MSS 1736
a
L. Tom Perry Special Collections

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...