Heart Mountain Incarceration Center Research Guide: Home

The Heart Mountain Incarceration Center has been referred to as an internment camp, an internment center, an incarceration camp and an incarceration center, among others, and internees referred to the camp using many different names and descriptions. It might be helpful to use a combination of these terms in keyword searches for research and reference materials for this topic, plus keywords related to Japanese American history in the United States. 

Here is a list of suggested keywords and keyword phrases:

Heart Mountain Relocation Center

Heart Mountain internment camp

Heart Mountain incarceration camp

Heart Mountain concentration camp

Internment of Japanese Americans

Image: Bill Manbo Collection, American Heritage Center

This research guide includes a listing of materials found in the American Heritage Center archival collections, UW Libraries resources, Chisum Special Collections, and resources outside the University of Wyoming pertaining to the Heart Mountain Incarceration Center. 

The Heart Mountain Incarceration Center, named after nearby Heart Mountain Butte, was one of ten internment camps used to incarcerate Japanese Americans relocated from the West Coast during World War II under the provisions of Executive Order 9066 signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Center was located between the towns of Cody and Powell in northwest Wyoming and was opened on August 11, 1942. (Source: Wikipedia.)

More detailed information on the history of Heart Mountain, plus information about the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, can be found on the the official Heart Mountain website.

Find additional resources by searching UW Libraries Online Catalog or Historical Databases. Information on how to search for American Heritage Center collections can be found on the AHC's Main LibGuide. 

Official Website:  https://www.heartmountain.org/

Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/heartmountainwy

Online Programming (videos): https://www.heartmountain.org/online-programming/

Virtual Tour from Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation (YouTube video): https://youtu.be/mPlvn36VdJM