Minidoka War Relocation Center (Jerome County, Idaho)

Not long after the Empire of Japan launched their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, suspicion of spies among the Japanese-American population of the Western United States arose. At that point, we as a people decided to ignore our most cherished ideas and imprison all peoples of Japanese ancestry in interment camps scattered throughout the west. This is what remains of one of those camps and has been dedicated as a national historic site.

There are some stones remaining from the old guard tower, which checked in all new arrivals and supplies entering the camp. A few residential and supply buildings remain from this camp that once housed approximately 10,000 American citizens being held prisoner because of their heritage. A note on one of the placards bears repeating here:

"May these camps serve to remind us what can happen when other factors supersede the constitutional rights guaranteed to all citizens and aliens living in this country."

We must strive every day and in every action to be better as a people than our ancestors were.