Sam Mihara: Lessons from the WWII Japanese American Incarceration

Join us for this exclusive presentation of the 51st Jefferson Lecture and panel to delve into the history and personal stories of an American concentration camp located in Wyoming during World War II. The firsthand accounts from presenters breathe life into historical stories.

The Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation’s Board Member, Sam Mihara, was named as the National Endowment for the Humanities’ 51st Jefferson Lecturer. Established in 1972, the lecture is the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities. Mihara is the first Japanese American to give the lecture, a survivor of the WWII Heart Mountain incarceration camp, the oldest recipient of the honor at 91, and the only former rocket scientist. Delivering his lecture for only the second time, audience members will hear his heart wrenching experience and see historical photos from private and public collections. Following the presentation, a panel moderated by the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation Board Chair Shirley Ann Higuchi which will include Peter K. Simpson, brother of the late Senator Alan Simpson and Wyoming icon, Vice-Chair Douglas Nelson, and HWMF Executive Director Aura Sunada Newlin.

The parallels between 1943 and current events cannot be dismissed, and now, it’s more important than ever to tell the history of the incarceration of over 125,000 Japanese Americans during World War II. The camp land is also located on the ancestral home of the Apsáalooke, and the parallels run deep. It holds physical and spiritual importance to both communities and begs the question “If it could happen then, can it happen again?”

Panelists will examine their own histories that are intertwined with the incarceration, share insights on the presentations, discuss the relevance to current events, and seek out a path forward prioritizing unity–as the late Senator Simpson and his lifelong friend, the late Secretary Norman Y. Mineta would have wanted. Throughout the discussion panelists will interweave stories from the new Heart Mountain publications including the historical Images of America: Heart Mountain book and a graphic novel, From Behind Barbed Wire to Washington: The Remarkable Friendship of Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson. Afterward, publications will be available for sale and signing by the authors.

PRESENTER AND PANELISTS:
Sam Mihara, BSME, MSE, Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation Board Member

Sam Mihara is a second-generation Japanese American. His parents were born in Japan and immigrated to the U.S. in the 1920’s. Sam was born in the early 1930s and raised in San Francisco. When World War II broke out, the United States government forced Sam and his family to move, first to a detention camp in Pomona, Calif., and then to a remote prison camp in Northern Wyoming, where they stayed for three years. The camp was one of 10 in the United States. Together the camps housed a total of 120,000 West Coast residents of Japanese ancestry, most of them U.S.-born American citizens. Sam’s family lived in a single room, measuring 20 feet by 20 feet, for their entire imprisonment.

After the war ended and he was released from camp, Sam returned to San Francisco. He attended Lick Wilmerding High School and graduated from U. C. Berkeley and UCLA graduate school with engineering degrees. He became a rocket scientist with The Boeing Company, helping to insert many satellites into orbit.

Following retirement from Boeing, Sam created his own high-tech consulting firm where he enjoys meeting many clients around the world.

He developed the Memories of Heart Mountain presentation to educate people and help ensure such civil rights violations don’t happen again. In it, he tells the story of his family and what happened to them, why the camps were created and the important lessons that were learned from this experience.

Sam researched many governments and private photo collections for his presentation, including several that have been impounded from public viewing. Many memorable images are works of professionals like Dorothea Lange and were obtained by permission from UC Bancroft Library.

By combining these professional images with his own photo collection, Sam has created an informative and entertaining program that describes the conditions he, his family and his close friends experienced during the Japanese-American incarceration.

Sam is a member of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, a museum created in 2011 at the campsite in Wyoming. Sam has also told his story at numerous schools, colleges and Department of Justice offices. In 2018, Sam received the Paul A. Gagnon Prize from the National Council for History Education. In 2024, Sam was named the 51st Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities.

Peter K. Simpson, PhD, Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation Board Member

Peter K. Simpson grew up in the shadow of Heart Mountain in nearby Cody, Wyoming, and visited the camp as a Boy Scout for jamborees with the incarcerated Japanese American scouts. Pete is an adjunct professor and the Milward Simpson Professor of Political Science at the University of Wyoming. He began his career as a college administrator. While serving as dean of instruction at Sheridan College, he was elected to the Wyoming State Legislature.

In 1984, he became vice president for development and executive director of the University of Wyoming Foundation and later served as vice president for Institutional Advancement. He is the brother of the late U.S. Senator Alan Simpson and son of former Wyoming governor and U.S. senator Milward Simpson. Pete’s commitment to Heart Mountain is deeply rooted in the experiences of him and his family during the war and their friendship with many of the former incarcerees and their families.

Shirley Ann Higuchi, JD, Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation Board Chair

Shirley Ann Higuchi, JD, is the Chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation (HMWF) and the daughter of former incarcerees, the late Dr. William I. Higuchi and the late Setsuko Saito Higuchi. Her American born parents were children when they were incarcerated at Heart Mountain during WWII. Shirley’s pursuit of law stemmed from her feelings of discomfort toward how the U.S. judicial system treated her parents. It was not until her mother was on her deathbed in 2005 that Shirley would aspire to take on her mother’s dream of “having something built there.” She was elected Chair of the Board in 2009, and her proudest moment was unveiling the Foundation’s world-class Interpretive Center in August 2011 alongside journalist Tom Brokaw, the late Senator Daniel K. Inouye, the late Secretary Norman Mineta and Senator Alan K. Simpson. Her second proudest moment happened when she opened the $8 million Mineta Simpson Institute in July 2024 which was expertly guided by her vision.

In 2025, Shirley retired from her role as as Associate Chief of Professional Practice for Justice, Legal & State Advocacy of the American Psychological Association where she worked on legal and regulatory strategies to achieve optimal mental health coverage for the patient population. She provided guidance on healthcare access, the practice of psychology, and patient protections with a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion.

In 2023, she was presented with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund award. Active in the District of Columbia Bar, Shirley served two elected terms on the Board of Governors from 1994 to 2000, served as Chair of the Bar’s Nominations Committee in 2001, and was elected President of the Bar for 2003. She was also the District of Columbia Bar’s first Asian American president.

In 2008, Shirley was appointed to the Judicial Tenure and Disabilities Commission for a 6-year term where she was responsible for reviewing misconduct, evaluating reappointments, and conducting fitness reviews of the District’s judges. Shirley was also appointed by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) to the Federal Law Enforcement Nominating Commission, where she recommends judicial applicants for the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia.

Her book, Setsuko’s Secret: Heart Mountain and the Legacy of the Japanese American Incarceration and her graphic novel, From Barbed Wire to Washington: The Remarkable Friendship of Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson are now available. For more information visit: www.heartmountain.org.

Douglas Nelson, Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation Board Vice-Chair

Douglas is the retired President and CEO of the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF). He is a leading advocate for children and a widely recognized expert on policies and community-based responses to improve the lives of at-risk children and their families. He is also regarded as one of America’s leading thinkers on the strategic role of philanthropy in advancing racial justice and positive social change. In 2010, President Jimmy Carter singled out Nelson for his extraordinary contributions “to our most disinvested and disenfranchised populations and to the overall betterment of America’s philanthropic missions. Such leaders are all too rare.” In addition to frequent lectures and speeches, Nelson has written widely on a range of domestic and social policy issues. His social history of the World War II removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans entitled Heart Mountain: The History of an American Concentration Camp earned him a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1976.

Aura Sunada Newlin, PhD, Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation Executive Director

Aura Sunada Newlin is a fourth-generation Wyomingite, fourth-generation Japanese American, and Executive Director for the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation. Her heritage involves intertwined stories of imprisonment at Heart Mountain and Tule Lake; segregated military service; and hardships suffered by railroaders who were fired because of their Japanese ancestry. She is also on the board of directors for the National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. Aura earned a BA in ethnomusicology from the University of Wyoming and an MA in medical anthropology from Case Western Reserve University. Now focusing on the anthropology of law, she will soon complete her PhD from Case Western Reserve University, where her dissertation focuses on harm and healing in the relationship between U.S. citizens and the federal government. Aura’s work has been profiled by the Women in Wyoming podcast and gallery exhibit; the University of Wyoming’s Featured Alumni series; Wyoming PBS, and more.