The dust has settled on the 2024 Heart Mountain Interpretive Center pilgrimage, one of the most successful events the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation has ever had. Employees took the opportunity Sunday to rest their bones before heading back to work in their efforts to grow their facility, both physically and in reputation.

“This was our best pilgrimage ever, starting with the tours of the root cellar and other parts of the site and ending with the inaugural panel in the Mineta-Simpson Institute conference center,” said Ray Locker, foundation director of communications and strategy.

The staff and board of directors are already looking forward to next year, which will be the 80th anniversary of the concentration camp’s closing.

“We plan on having more sessions and speakers that emphasize the key tenets of the Mineta-Simpson Institute and more events that appeal to children,” he said.

Until then, they’ll be glowing in the limelight of international attention. The grand opening of the Mineta-Simpson Institute was marked by the traditional cutting of a ribbon before introducing it to the public for the first time. It was also celebrated by both former Republican and Democratic presidents.

The 43rd president of the U.S., George W. Bush, said former Secretary of Commerce and Transportation Norman Mineta and former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson remind us of the importance of serving a cause greater than self.

“They demonstrate that friendship and patriotism take precedent over party,” he said in a video sent to the center and played to the public during a performance of “Question 27, Question 28” in Cody.

“In recent years, the nobility of public service has been called into question. Young people who want to make a positive difference in our society wonder whether it’s worthwhile. In my view, the examples of Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson will not only inspire a new generation to enter the arena, but it will educate them on how to do so effectively and compassionately,” he said.

The 42nd president, Bill Clinton, said the Mineta-Simpson Institute is a “fitting tribute to two men whose lifelong friendship embodied the very highest American ideals of service, patriotism, and bipartisanship.”

“At a time when so many Americans seem to be pulling away from one another, Norm’s and Al’s lives and careers and their personal friendship reminds us that honorable compromise strengthens our democracy that we can disagree without being disagreeable. These are lessons we need now more than ever,” he said.

The pilgrimage to the center is their biggest event of the year. The center offered highlights, notably visiting speakers at the pilgrimage included Shelly Lowe, chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities; former U.S. Rep. Mike Honda of California; Anthea Hartig, director of the National Museum of American History; Debra Kawahara, president-elect of the American Psychological Association; and Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum.

Simpson and Deni Mineta, wife of the late secretary, spoke on Saturday about the importance of working with people from different backgrounds and with different political beliefs. Mineta and Simpson first met as Boy Scouts at the Heart Mountain camp in 1943. Mineta was incarcerated at the camp that held 14,000 Japanese Americans, while Simpson lived in nearby Cody.

Mineta and Simpson each received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from presidents from the opposite political party and were known for their ability to bridge partisan differences and get things done. 

The Foundation presented its LaDonna Zall Compassionate Witness Award to Eric Muller, a University of North Carolina law professor who developed Heart Mountain’s permanent museum exhibit. He has also written four books about the Japanese American incarceration during World War II.

During the pilgrimage’s Friday session, participants watched a presentation of the play “Question 27, Question 28” by Chey Yew and featuring actor Tamlyn Tomita, a Heart Mountain descendant who starred in “The Karate Kid II” and “The Joy Luck Club,” among dozens of film and television credits.

The play presents the history of the Japanese American incarceration through the perspectives of the women who were imprisoned in a series of incarceration sites including Heart Mountain. The performance was co-starred on the stage at the Wynona Thompson Auditorium at Cody High School by Vanessa Yuille, a documentary filmmaker from Los Angeles whose mother was born in Heart Mountain; Mika Dyo, a Los Angeles actor whose ancestors were incarcerated at Heart Mountain; and Maggie Simpson-Crabaugh, the daughter of Heart Mountain board member Pete Simpson, who visited the camp as a Boy Scout in 1943.

The pilgrimage drew 440 participants, including 180 first-time visitors. Forty-five former incarcerees, who are in their 80s and 90s, attended the event.

The foundation preserves the site where some 14,000 Japanese Americans were incarcerated from 1942 through 1945. Their stories are told within the foundation’s museum.

The center is reaching out beyond Wyoming to educate children about the story of the camp, something not taught for decades after the camps closed. Board member Lea Nitake, who had 24 family members interned at Heart Mountain, said sharing the story of Heart Mountain is important for the future of the country.

“Our intention is to educate people all over the country, and educate future generations about what happened, how it happened, and why you need to continue learning about it,” she said.

For more information about the center or to donate: heartmountain.org.