WSA Speaker Series - Memories of Heart Mountain with Sam Mihara

Описание: When Sam Mihara was 9 years old, World War II broke out resulting in the United States government using armed military guards to force over 125,000 people of Japanese descent to live in one of the 75 internment camps located in the United States. Mihara will share his story of his family’s journey from San Francisco to Heart Mountain, Wyoming, and life thereafter as chronicled in his book, Memories of Heart Mountain.

Sam Mihara and his family returned to San Francisco after the war ended. He attended Lick Wilmerding High School, and University of California, Berkeley for his undergraduate degree and UCLA for his graduate degree, earning engineering degrees at both. This led to a career as a rocket scientist and employment with Boeing Company, where he served as an executive on space programs. Following retirement, Mihara became a national speaker on the topic of mass injustice in the U.S. and helped in the education and preservation of the Heart Mountain Historic Landmark. He is a board member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation and of the Japanese American Citizens League, SELANOCO Chapter. He has received many awards for his educational talks including Paul Gagnon Prize as the history educator of the year and the Japanese American Citizens League’s prestigious honor, The Biennium Award for Education.

The Wyoming State Archives (WSA) and the Laramie County Public Library hosted Sam Mihara as he talked about his experiences at Heart Mountain internment camp during World War II. This event was sponsored in part by Wyoming Humanities. Mihara’s talk was held on Friday, September 15, 2023 at 7 p.m. in the Wyoming State Capitol Auditorium.