1.
INCLUSIVITY,
DIFFICULT
HISTORY,
AND
THE MODERN
MUSEUM
AUDIENCE
Western Museums Association, October 7,
2019

2.
Panel
 Jacey Brain
 Visitor Services Coordinator, Idaho State Historical
Society, Old Idaho Penitentiary
 Phillip Thompson
 Executive Director, Board President, Idaho Black
History Museum
 Hanako Wakatsuki
 Chief of Interpretation and Education, National Park
Service, Minidoka National Historic Site

3.
Old Idaho Penitentiary

4.
Crafty Cons

5.
Faces of the Idaho State Penitentiary
Opened January 12, 2019

6.
 Components of Faces of the ISP:
 Nearly 60 full biographies
 “Culture Shock”
 “An Inclusive Institution”
 “Prison Identity”
 “Questions of Morality”
 “Changing Times, Changing Crimes”
 “Prison Staff”
 “Past to Present”

7.
Minidoka National Historic Site

8.
Idaho Black History Museum

9.
The Art of Diplomacy:
Meet them where they are, not
where you think they should
be

10.
Assume Nothing:
Color, religion, name, political
affiliation, clothing, accent –
mean nothing

11.
Listen without Debate:
Listening is more than
“hearing”

12.
Deductive Reasoning,
Not Emotion:
“DINO” – Date
invalidates/negates Opinion

13.
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A
CHALLENGES WITH
INTERPRETING MINIDOKA
NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
October 7, 2019
Western Museums Association Conference
Boise, Idaho
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Minidoka National Historic Site

14.
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A
Minidoka National Historic Site

15.
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A
During WWII:
110,000 people forcibly removed to 10 camps

16.
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A
Minidoka Stats
 Incarcerees were from Washington, Oregon, and Alaska
 In operation for 3 years
 33,000 Acres large
 13,000 people went through Minidoka
 Peak population: 9,397 people
 Idaho’s 7th largest city

17.
How do we interpret this
history?
 Consult the many communities invested in this
story to collectively develop the park’s on the
interpretive themes
 General Management Plan
 Foundation Document
 Long-Range Interpretive Plan
 Use current academic research to inform us
 Use facilitated dialogue techniques and approach
through conversation
 Provide the history in full context, not just through
the lens of WWII
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A

18.
Audience Issues
 Audience is misinformed on the subject
 “Social truths” conflicts with facts
 “Military necessity” falsehood
 Assumptions incarcerees were POWs
 Not wanting to accept government reports
 Implicit Bias
 Politics
 Racism
 Harassing interns/employees on information provided
because of false sense of “bias” due to ethnicity
 Challenging why interns/employees are there based on
their ethnicity
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A

19.
How we try to mitigate this?
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A
 More pubic programming to make this story
more known
 Create dynamic interpretive media and
experiences
 Film
 Exhibits
 Special Events: Pilgrimages
 Trying to spend more one on one time if
possible to open the dialogue

20.
E X P E R I E N C E Y O U R A M E R I C A
Minidoka National Historic Site
www.nps.gov/miin
208-825-4169
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior

21.
Contact Us!
For questions, discussion, or a copy of the presentation:
 Jacey Brain, Idaho State Historical Society
 jacey.brain@ishs.idaho.gov
 Phillip Thompson, Idaho Black History Museum
 phillip.thompson@ibhm.org
 Hanako Wakatsuki, National Park Service
 hanako_wakatsuki-chong@nps.org