The HMWF is an independent non-profit that manages a National Historic Landmark site on the former "Heart Mountain Relocation Center" where more than 14,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly imprisoned during WWII. The site includes a museum, the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center, in addition to a military memorial, walking tour, original camp structures, reasearch center and archive. The HMWF mission is as follows:
- Preserve and memorialize the
Heart Mountain World War II Japanese American Confinement Site and the stories
that symbolize the fragility of democracy;
- Educate the public about the
history of the illegal imprisonment of Japanese Americans at Heart Mountain
during World War II and its impact on the Big Horn Basin;
- Support inquiry, research and
outreach to highlight the lessons of the Japanese American confinement and
their relevance to the preservation of liberty and civil rights for all
Americans today.