Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center

Powell, WY

The Heart Mountain Interpretive Center commemorates the site of one of 10 World War II “internment camps,” where more than 110,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry were illegally imprisoned. The center is more than a memorial. It is a place for learning and healing—a place for dialogue not only about the past, but also about renewed civil liberties violations, both present and future.

The permanent exhibition tells the story of the uprooted internees—from their point of view and in their voices. The exhibit text is written in the first person plural, in order to directly communicate the experiences, memories, and emotions of the internees. Early in the exhibit visitors are given ID tags like the ones that internees wore. At the conclusion of the exhibit, visitors can write a message on that tag and add it to a barbed wire fence, creating a living memorial to healing and remembrance.