Staff Highlight – Shannon Reagan

We are thrilled to introduce Shannon Reagan, our new Project Manager for Beyond the Barbed Wire: Japanese American Stories of the Pacific Northwest! Beyond the Barbed Wire is a three year project to develop a series of tours that tell the full and complex story of the Japanese American experience. To learn more about the project, click here.

Shannon is a journalist, educator, and fourth generation Idahoan with a passion for history – especially little-known or “hidden” stories. She believes her professional background in television news, content development, feature writing, and education has prepared her well for her role as Project Manager of Beyond the Barbed Wire, and she is eager to help amplify and articulate the complex story of the Japanese American experience. Shannon’s interest in the history of Japanese American incarceration was piqued by a brief mention of Minidoka in her grandmother’s memoirs. This discovery drove Shannon to learn more about Minidoka National Historic Site and the events leading up to Order 9066, and inspired her to create a learning experience for high school students at One Stone in Boise.

“When I stand in the breezeway of the Minidoka Visitor Center, I always look out across the bronze relief map towards Burley, where my grandmother grew up,” says Shannon. “She loved history, but didn’t ever fully understand the events that unfolded just a few miles from her hometown. That’s why I’m passionate about learning and sharing the history of Japanese American incarceration. I want to help close the knowledge gap and make sure future generations know this story.”

Shannon lives in Boise with her husband and two children, and loves to read and write in her spare time. She is just five books away from completing a ‘23 in 2023’ reading challenge, and hopes to eventually finish writing a historical fiction novel based on the Pequot War of 1637.

Please join us in welcoming Shannon to the Friends of Minidoka family!