15.933 preservation of japanese american confinement sitesthe program provides for the preservation and interpretation of historic confinement sites where japanese americans were detained during world…

The National Park Service awarded $519,362 to the Wyoming Foundation Heart Mountain on September 15, 2025, under the Preservation of Japanese American Confinement Sites program (CFDA 15.933) to design and install a permanent exhibit within the sole surviving root cellar constructed by Japanese Americans incarcerated at Heart Mountain during World War II. Following a decade-long restoration effort, the exhibit will interpret the critical role of agriculture at the Heart Mountain camp, demonstrating how incarcerees transformed desert scrubland into productive farmland. The project will feature primary source materials including historic photographs, films, records, oral histories, and memoirs developed in consultation with former incarcerees, and will contextualize the cellar within the broader landscape and camp history.

The deliverables include guided tours of the root cellar offered seasonally (May through September) and by request year-round, a dedicated website section providing detailed information about the cellar, and a documentary film designed to generate nationwide attention to the project. The grant benefits multiple stakeholder groups including nonprofit and for-profit organizations, public and private institutions, government entities, industry professionals, research scientists, engineers, and the general public. The project completion date is September 15, 2027, with the place of performance located in Powell, Wyoming.

15.933 preservation of japanese american confinement sitesthe program provides for the preservation and interpretation of historic confinement sites where japanese americans were detained during world war II. Congress established the japanese american confinement sites (jacs) grant program (public law 109-441, 120 stat. 3288, and reauthorized via public law 117-328) to preserve and interpret incarceration sites where japanese americans were detained during world war II. This project will fund the design and installation of a permanent exhibit inside the sole surviving root cellar built by japanese americans incarcerated at heart mountain during world war II. Following a decade-long restoration project, the cellar exhibit will highlight the critical role of agriculture at the heart mountain camp, illustrating how japanese americans transformed desert scrubland into productive farms during their internment. The exhibit will contextualize the cellar within the surrounding landscape and the camp s overall history. Visitors will learn about the challenges faced by incarceree farmers and the agricultural techniques they developed, which benefited local communities after the war. The exhibit will feature content drawn from primary sources, including historic photos, films, records, oral histories, and memoirs, in consultation with former incarcerees. Guided tours of the root cellar will be offered from may through september and upon request throughout the year. Additionally, a dedicated section on the museum s website will provide detailed information about the cellar, and a documentary film will be developed to draw nationwide attention to the project. Beneficiaries include profit organizations, public nonprofitinstitutions organizations, private nonprofit institutions organizations, non-federal government entities, industry and public decision makers, research scientists, engineers, and the general public.