Historical Museum at Fort Missoula presents
Memories of Imprisonment
A lecture by Former WWII Internee Sam Mihara
We hope you will join us for this timely lecture being presented at the University of Montana’s Gallagher Business Building, Room 123 on October 5th at 7pm.
Contact us for for more information.
During World War II, Fort Missoula was turned over to the Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service, for use as an Alien Detention Center (ADC). Between 1941 and 1944, the ADC held over 1,200 non-military Italian men, 1,000 Japanese resident aliens, 23 German resident aliens, and 123 Japanese Latin and South Americans. Fort Missoula’s ADC was established to hold foreign nationals and resident aliens, to distinguish it from the better-known War Relocation Act camps that held 120,000 Japanese Americans.
In 1942, Sam Mihara was 9 years old living in San Francisco when he became of the 120,000 Japanese Americans the government forced by armed military to be relocated into prison camps. Sam’s family lived in a single room, measuring 20 feet by 20 feet, for their entire imprisonment.
Today, Sam is now a national lecturer on the topic of Mass Imprisonment. In the last 10 years, he has given talks to over 65,000 students, teachers, and the general public.
In 2018, Sam Mihara Received the prestigious Paul A. Gagnon Prize from the National Council for History Education (NCHE). The annual award is given to an individual or group who has made a significant contribution to history education. Sam received the award for his ongoing work lecturing about his imprisonment as a child at Heart Mountain Internment Camp during World War II. This was the first award to a Japanese American.
“I feel truly honored and humbled to receive the prestigious Paul A. Gagnon award,” Sam says. “The importance of history education cannot be overstated. Through education about the Japanese American imprisonment, we can help to ensure that such civil rights violations never happen again. The students of today have the opportunity to learn historical precedents that serve as guidelines for better solutions in the future.”
The program has been made possible in part by grants from the Humanities Montana and supporters of the Museum’s mission to share the history of Fort Missoula’s WWII Alien Detention Center and its impact on the Japanese American community.