HUNT, Idaho — More than 80 years ago, an executive order incarcerated thousands of Japanese Americans at the Minidoka internment camp. I was there to learn how the Park Service, government officials and committed citizen groups have collaborated to preserve this uncomfortable chapter of American history.
On Wednesday, the National Park Service, Friends of Minidoka and state and local leaders joined Congressman Mike Simpson for updates about preservation efforts, funded in part by the Great American Outdoors Act.
"We have to remember who we were, we have to remember what happened here and why it happened, and try to understand it," Simpson said.
WATCH | Partners share restoration progress at Idaho's Minidoka internment camp
Although only a smattering of buildings remain, this internment camp once housed nearly 14,000 people in Jerome County. For 25 years since its dedication as a national historic site, the Park Service and the Friends of Minidoka have worked to share the experiences of incarcerated Japanese Americans with visitors.
"My parents and grandparents aunts and uncles were all incarcerated — not at Minidoka but at other sites and I think it's so important as I said for us to ensure that everything they experience is not forgotten," Friends of Minidoka Executive Director Robyn Achilles told Idaho News 6.
"By creating these immersive exhibits where people can really feel what it was like to be here well and just incarcerated is a way to humanize and make people really have empathy and understand what these policies mean in their impact," Achilles said.
Attendees at Wednesday's event were able to see the restoration efforts underway, including a historic barrack that was slid to a temporary footing so the foundation could be replaced. The long-neglected root cellar, built by incarcerees out of log poles, is also getting a substantial reconstruction, guided by historic preservation practices.
Wade Vegias, superintendent for Minidoka National Historic Site, said working with a committed citizens group like the Friends of Minidoka is the honor of a lifetime.
"Protecting in preserving a place like this helps really important piece a chapter of America's history," Vegias said.
"We go to them frequently with funding request and request for them to partner on grants with us for special events for volunteer and they routinely deliver and help us further advance our mission beyond what we could do our ourselves as an individual agency," Vegias said.
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