Minidoka Memories: Stories that Connect and Heal will highlight and collect oral histories from the Idaho community with ties to the historic Minidoka War Relocation Center and the unjust incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII. In recent decades, the collection of oral histories focused on Minidoka survivors and descendants, their experiences, and the legacy of multi-generational trauma. These stories are critical to our nation’s history, but there is a gap in oral histories from the white community, the unincarcerated Japanese American community in Idaho, and their relationships to the historic Minidoka War Relocation Center and the incarcerees.

Our goal with this project is to encourage the sharing of oral histories so we can listen and honor all stories of this complex and multi-layered history and to overcome the destructive nature of silence by creating an opportunity to share, heal, and learn from the lessons of the past. This is particularly important as the remaining community members who were alive during the incarceration years are aging. The oral histories that result from this project will contribute to primary source information that will allow Friends of Minidoka to produce additional humanities projects in the future and open dialogue and the telling of all Minidoka stories with the hope of healing for our entire community and collective humanity.

The project will include:

1. Publication of Relocation Center Diary 1942, by Arthur Kleinkopf, M.S., Superintendent of Education, War Relocation Center, Hunt, Idaho. This is a significant primary source of information about life at Minidoka and a perspective of a white employee in a leadership position. Copies will be distributed to the 150 public libraries and universities in Idaho. The publication will be released in February 2026, and pre-sale of the diary to the public is available at our online store.

2. Public programming in February and March 2026 for the Day of Remembrance focusing on Kleinkopf, the importance of sharing family stories, and the community healing from sharing oral histories to coincide with the publication of Relocation Diary and launch of oral history campaign. See our Events Page for more information.

3. Oral histories from local citizens and their descendents who had ties to the historic Minidoka War Relocation Center.

   
   

Funders

Friends of Minidoka is grateful to our funders for this project: Idaho Humanities Council, Jones Family Fund of National Philanthropic Trust, Duane Minoru Yamamoto Memorial Fund of Friends of Minidoka, and Minidoka National Historic Site.

Community Partners

Friends of Minidoka and Minidoka National Historic Site thank our community partners for this project:

Twin Falls Public Library

Albertsons Library, Special Archives, Boise State University

Museum of Idaho and Idaho Falls Japanese American Citizens League

College of Southern Idaho

The Community Library