Hansel Mieth, Heart Mountain Internees; a salute to the American flag led by a Boy Scout Drum and Bugle Corp during 35 degree below zero weather, Heart Mountain, Wyoming, 1942
Hansel Mieth, Honor Guard; A soldier shipped back from the battle-front for burial at the camp. His comrades hold the Honor Watch, Heart Mountain Internment Camp, Wyoming, 1942
In August, the Heart Mountain Interpretive Learning Center opened in the former Heart Mountain internment camp in Wyoming. According to the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation’s website, “the organization has worked to preserve the site that represents a period in U.S. history following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, two-thirds of them American-born citizens, were deprived of due process and forced to leave their homes and livelihoods.” More than 14,000 Japanese Americans were interned at Heart Mountain during World War II. In a recent New York Times article about the opening of the museum and education center, former internees recalled their time in the camp. Life photographer Hansel Mieth visited in 1942 to capture daily life in the camp.