25 Years of Healing & Remembrance

With 2025 drawing to a close, I find myself reflecting on the incredible journey we have undertaken together to preserve the deep significance of Minidoka National Historic Site and the lessons and legacy of a gross violation of constitutional rights in our nation's history. Your unwavering support has been the cornerstone of our success, and I am deeply grateful.

Left to right: Michael Boren, Acting DOI Secretary for Policy, Management, and Budget, K aren Hirai Olen, Survivor, Minidoka concentration camp, Jeremy Chase, Tourism & Marketing Administrator, Idaho Commerce, Robyn Achilles, Executive Director, Friends of Minidoka, Keith Yamaguchi, President, Nisei Veterans Committee, Brianna Bowhay, Project Manager, Southern Idaho National Parks, National Park Service, Janet Keegan, Board member, Friends of Minidoka and Minidoka descendant,

Photo: Buses preparing to depart Minidoka, Courtesy of the National Archives, photo no. 210-CMB-V2-1944 By Micah Hetherington, Friends of Minidoka Granuate Research Fellow On October 28, 1945, Minidoka officially closed as a concentration camp for people of Japanese ancestry. Throughout incarceration, people who fit strict qualifications of release and perceptions of loyalty were able to move out of camp for work or school. Japanese Americans could not move back to the West C