One of those camps was Minidoka in Idaho. Between August 1942 and October 1945, nearly 9,500 Japanese Americans from Portland, Oregon, Seattle and the surrounding areas were interned at Minidoka.
When the National Park Service established the Minidoka National Historic Site in 2001, it included only a fraction of the original 950-acre core of the camp. The park service faced a challenge to preserve this monument; it was not able to expand because available lands were outside the congressionally-authorized boundary of the site. In 2008 the Idaho congressional delegation helped pass bipartisan legislation authorizing expansion of the National Historic Site, allowing the park service to incorporate new land.
Conservation Efforts at Minidoka
Before passage of the boundary expansion, two properties neighboring the park went up for sale. The Conservation Fund purchased the properties and held them until the National Park Service could acquire and add them to the site. With this acquisition, the park service was able to reconstruct an entire barracks block at the monument, which will serve as the focal point for education and visitor use.
In 2008, we protected nearly 140 more acres: the former site of the internment camp’s fire station, water tower, military police headquarters, barracks blocks 21 and 22 and portions of adjacent blocks. The National Park Service will begin to re-establish residential block 22 on its original location, starting with the relocation of a barracks building and a camp mess hall donated by Jerome County from the county fairgrounds.
A barrack, right, and mess hall from Block 22 at Minidoka National Historic Site on Saturday, July 28, 2018 in Hunt, Idaho. Between August 1942 and October 1945, nearly 9,500 Japanese Americans from Portland, Oregon, Seattle and the surrounding areas were interned at Minidoka. In 2011, The Conservation Fund protected nearly 140 more acres: the former site of the internment camp’s fire station, water tower, military police headquarters, barracks blocks 21 and 22 and portions of adjacent blocks. Photo by Richard Alan Hannon
The site of the Minidoka camp is historically significant for its use after the war as well. Minidoka Relocation Center was parceled into farms and distributed to veterans through land lotteries, creating an emergent agricultural community. John Herrmann was one of the veterans who acquired some property, but when he was recalled for active duty, the development of his homestead and farm was delayed. On April 17, 1952, the North Side Conservation District and Jerome County Farm Equipment Dealers orchestrated a unique agricultural event that mobilized more than 1,500 workers and 200 state-of-the-art machines. In a single day they prepared Herrmann’s land for farming. The event was called farm-in-a-day and is a major benchmark in the development of the agriculture industry in southern Idaho.
A reproduction guard tower stands at the entrance to Minidoka National Historic Site on Saturday, July 28, 2018 in Hunt, Idaho.
Residents of Block 22, pictured in a National Park Service exhibit panel at Minidoka National Historic Site on Saturday, July 28, 2018 in Hunt, Idaho. A barracks, original to the site and brought back again from the Jerome County Fairgrounds, sits in background.
A reproduction baseball field at Minidoka National Historic Site on Saturday, July 28, 2018 in Hunt, Idaho. There were at least a dozen such fields at the time of incarceration.
Land owner and rancher Dean Dimond, 46, along with his sons Logan, 13, in red, and Treg, 11, and their dog Bandit, at Minidoka National Historic Site on Saturday, July 28, 2018 in Hunt, Idaho. Dimond farms the land behind him, purchased by The Conservation Fund.
The acquisition of these lands allows the National Park Service to reconstruct key structures of the original site in their original locations, helping to fully tell the story of the hardships endured by Japanese Americans. These reconstructions include a guard tower and the Honor Roll, which held the names of every prisoner of Minidoka who left to fight in World War II. NPS has also been able to buy back some of the original buildings from the camp that were sold off after it was closed, including barracks and a mess hall. These projects also generate jobs and significant economic activity in southern Idaho. While there is only part-time on-site presence by NPS employees, the park recorded over 11,000 visitors in 2017.
Minidoka: Arrival By Train
Photo courtesy The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. Caption information from JARDA: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives.
A train brings approximately 600 evacuees from Washington state for internment at Minidoka. Buses wait by the side of the road for the drive to the camp.
Photographer: Francis Stewart. Photo courtesy The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.
Caption information from JARDA: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives.
Gerald, 3, David, 6, and Chester Sakura, Jr., 1-1/2, brothers, were on the train (see previous image) carrying 600 Japanese Americans from Washington state. Children made up the majority of Japanese Americans removed to internment camps during the war.
Photographer: Francis Stewart. Photo courtesy The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. Caption information from JARDA: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives.
When the Japanese Americans were relocated to camps like Minidoka, they were required to leave their homes and most of their possessions. Here, the baggage of 600 Japanese Americans was offloaded from the train and is waiting to be brought to the camp.
Photographer: Francis Stewart. Photo Courtesy of The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. Caption information provided by JARDA: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives.
A panorama view of the Minidoka War Relocation Authority center in August 1942. Construction of the barracks is in progress.
Photographer: Francis Stewart. Photo courtesy The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. Caption information from JARDA: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives.
Mrs. Eizo Nishi, from Seattle, sits in her apartment with her daughter Eime, four, at Minidoka in 1943. All of the furniture in the apartment was constructed from scrap material. The wall paper, drapes and other furnishings were purchased from a mail order house.
Photographer: John Bigelow. Photo courtesy The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. Caption information from JARDA: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives.
The Sakura family, shown here, were some of the 9,500 Japanese Americans interned at Minidoka. The four Sakura brothers, Ken, Chester, Ted and Howard, volunteered for service in the combat team of the United States Army composed of Americans of Japanese ancestry. These brothers are fulfilling a vow made to their father, who died 20 years prior, to live and die for the United States, if Japan and America should ever go to war.
Photographer: Francis Stewart. Photo courtesy The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. Caption information from JARDA: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives..
Newly arrived evacuees must wait in line to register receive assigned apartments. Their new living quarters are small and quickly built with no cooking facilities or bathrooms available. A dining hall and public restrooms are all that is provided.
Photographer: Francis Stewart. Photo courtesy The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley. Caption information from JARDA: Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives.
Looking down the rows of barracks. At extreme left is a corner of the dining hall where 275 to 300 residents of the block eat. At center background is the sanitation building including showers, toilets and washtubs.
Historical Propaganda Film About Internment Camps: “A Challenge To Democracy”
Watch the 1940-era film "A Challenge To Democracy" produced by The War Relocation Authority to get an idea of what the camps looked like, including apartments and facilities, and how the government explained the removal of Japanese to internment camps.
Conservation Acquisition
