National Park Foundation Innovation Grant: $150,000 A National Park Foundation Innovation Grant will support Minidoka CloseUp, an interactive digital mapping project led by Friends of Minidoka in partnership with Minidoka National Historic Site, Densho, and the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial. Minidoka CloseUp will digitally map the historic camp’s residential blocks, barracks, and individual living units. By bringing together historical records, reside

Japanese American Confinement Sites (JACS) Grant Program: $500,000 Friends of Minidoka was awarded a $500,000 federal grant through the National Park Service’s Japanese American Confinement Sites Program to develop and install interpretive exhibits in the newly restored Root Cellar and Barrack. These exhibits will transform passive observation into active learning, fostering empathy, reflection, and a deeper understanding of the human consequences of injustice and the endurin

On October 21, Friends of Minidoka hosted a press event at Minidoka National Historic Site to highlight ongoing historic preservation efforts, share updates on restoration projects across southern Idaho’s national parks, and announce new funding for education and interpretation at Minidoka. The event featured presentations from National Park Service leadership, remarks from Representative Mike Simpson, and an in-depth look at the specialized preservation work underway at Mini

We love a story with a happy ending, and this one really delivers. During the restoration process on the historic Root Cellar this summer, a stray kitten was found alone living in the construction area. Staff, unable to find the mom or siblings, attempted to find her a new home. However, in the process, Ranger Midori fell in love and decided to adopt the kitten, now named Jiji, herself! Congratulations to Ranger Midori on the new addition and to Jiji for finding herself a won

The Visitor Center at Minidoka National Historic Site officially closed Sunday, September 27, bringing the 2026 summer Visitor Center season to a close. But while the seasonal doors have closed, the work of connecting people with Minidoka’s history continues. This year, Minidoka’s education programs reached 1,527 students and teachers from across the country through school tours, classroom visits, teacher trainings, and virtual learning programs. The park’s education team led

While National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center team (HPTC) was excavating the historic Root Cellar at Minidoka, a South Idaho Parks archeologist was on site to identify, recover, and inventory any artifacts uncovered. Archeologists for South Idaho Parks Tara McClure-Cannon, Tatiana Perrotte, and Heather Alvarado shared a few of the artifacts with Friends of Minidoka. All photos courtesy of NPS. Children’s Marbles The marbles and shooter marbles uncovered

What if you could explore the stories of Minidoka National Historic Site year-round, even when the Visitor Center is closed or you are unable to make it to the site in person? A new digital tour from Friends of Minidoka will make that possible. Friends of Minidoka has received a $50,000 supplemental grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop a third tour in Beyond the Barbed Wire: Japanese American Stories of the Pacific Northwest, our growing series of digital tou

The National Park Service’s Historic Preservation Training Center crew and Conservation Legacy interns have been hard at work at Minidoka National Historic Site this summer. Thanks to funding from the Great American Outdoors Act’s Legacy Restoration Funds, four projects are underway at the site: restoration of the Historic Root Cellar, Barracks, and Mess Hall, as well as the construction of a new modern maintenance and staff facility. View of Historic Root Cellar as of Septem