Programs Share Life in Internment Camp

       History professor Robert Sims, with the Idaho Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, offers a presentation on the Minidoka Internment Camp in four communities as part of the Our Region Reads project.

Robert Sims



Sims will speak and present a slideshow at 3 p.m., Feb. 24 at the Golden Spikes Community Center, 8580 W. Yosemite, in Rathdrum; 3 p.m., Feb. 25 at the Spirit Lake Library,

32575 N. Fifth Ave.

; 6 p.m., Feb. 25, at the Athol Library, 30399 Third St.; and at 2 p.m., Feb. 26, at the Hayden Library, 8385 N. Government Way.

During World War II the United States Government removed the entire Japanese American population from the West Coast and relocated them to 10 camps in the interior. One of these camps was Camp Minidoka in south central Idaho. This camp was also called Hunt, and held nearly 10,000 people of Japanese ancestry during the war.

This camp had a great impact on Idaho during the war years and was an important part of both Idaho and United States History. In 2001, it was designated as a National Monument, and plans are being developed for the site.

Sims is professor of History Emeritus and former Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs at Boise State University. He received his Ph.D. in American History from the University of Colorado.

Sims received a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship in Ethnic Studies at Columbia University. He served on the Idaho Humanities Council for four years and has participated in many projects funded by the NEH and the Idaho Humanities Council, including multi-state projects dealing with ethnic groups in the west.

He has served as a consultant to the Four Rivers Cultural Center, Ontario, Ore., and now serves on the board of the Friends of Minidoka, a support group for the Minidoka Interment National Monument. In 2004 he received the Outstanding Achievement in the Humanities award, given annually by the IHC.

Our Region Reads is a cooperative effort by area libraries to encourage the residents of North Idaho to read together a shared book and to enjoy educational and cultural events related to that book. The selection for 2011 is “The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” by Jamie Ford.

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council as part of the "We the People Initiative" of the National Endowment for the Humanities with additional support from the Friends of the Library at Post Falls, Hayden and Coeur d’Alene libraries. Information about Our Region Reads is available at local libraries.