The Sun Valley Museum of History

WINTER READ Kickoff & Opening of “Righting a Wrong” Poster Exhibit

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Join us at the Regional History Museum for the opening of Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II. 

During the reception, we’ll also launch The Community Library’s 2020 WINTER READ: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. 

 

Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II
February 19 marks the anniversary of Executive Order 9066, a document that President Roosevelt signed in 1942, two months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. The order resulted in the imprisonment of 75,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry and 45,000 Japanese nationals in prison camps across the country, many being relocated far from home.

The Righting a Wrong poster exhibition traces the story of Japanese national and Japanese American incarceration during World War II and the people who survived it. Young and old lived crowded together in hastily built camps, endured poor living conditions, and were under the constant watch of military guards for two and a half years. Meanwhile, brave Japanese American men risked their lives fighting for the United States.

Some 40 years later, members of the Japanese American community led the nation to confront the wrong it had done—and urged Congress to make it right. Based on an original exhibition at the National Museum of American History, the Righting a Wrong poster exhibition centers around eight core questions that encourage viewers to engage in a dialogue about how this happened and if it could happen again. Embracing themes that are as relevant today as they were 75 years ago, the poster exhibition brings forth themes of identity, immigration, prejudice, civil rights, courage, and what it means to be an American. 

The Righting a Wrong poster exhibit is on display at the Regional History Museum from January 31, 2020 through March 21, 2020, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) program.

 

The 2020 Winter Read has been generously sponsored by the Spur Community Foundation and Carlyn Ring.

 

“In Good Faith” Exhibition Opening

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Join us for an opening reception for the new exhibit, “In Good Faith,” at the Regional History Museum in Forest Service Park on Friday, August 30th from 4:00-5:30 p.m.

The exhibit will be on view at the Regional History Museum from August 28, 2019 – October 26, 2019. Curated by Dr. Orlan Svingen, Professor of History at Washington State University (WSU) and his students, it is the story of the 1868 Virginia City Treaty between the United States Government and the Shoshone Tribe, which was never ratified by the government. The centerpiece of the exhibit is the 57-minute documentary of the same title, which focuses on the treaty.

The treaty was negotiated “in good faith,” and signed in 1868 by Chief Tendoy, the leader of the Mixed-Band of Shoshone, Bannock, and Sheep Eater people in southwestern Montana Territory. Tendoy then ceded 32,000 square miles of aboriginal territory in 1870 for a permanent treaty reservation in central Idaho. The treaty, however, was never ratified. In 1875, the United States accepted this treaty reservation cession of 32,000 square miles in exchange for a temporary reservation in the Salmon River country of Idaho. In 1905, the U.S. rescinded that temporary reservation, prompting the Mixed-Band’s 200-mile removal south to the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. The film highlights the discovery of a National Archives document, which reveals what many regard as a violation of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. The documentary film, In Good Faith (2018), is written and directed by Beverly Benninger, narrated by Forest Goodluck, and produced by Beverly Penninger and Alyson Young. The production company is Naka Productions, Inc.

The exhibit tells this story through text panels, moving photographs, paintings, film, and through contemporary Shoshone artisan work and craft objects. This work has been made possible by the generous support from John W. and Janet M. Creighton. 

The opening reception is free and open to the public. Come meet the curators, Dr. Orlan Svingen and Jared Chastain, and figures in the film, including Leo Arriwite.

Evening Exhibition Tour: Who Writes History?: Frontier Voices, Native Realities

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Join us for a museum tour of Who Writes History? Frontier Voices, Native Realities, the pop-up exhibition that investigates the co-existence between Native Americans and Wood River Valley non-native newcomers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The exhibit includes photos, territory maps, a court case and newspaper accounts describing the interaction.
 
NOTE: This is a two-part tour with the Sun Valley Center for the Arts.
At 5:30 the Center curators will guide a tour of their exhibition: Unravelling: Reimagining the Colonization of the Americas and
the second part is a tour at the Regional History Museum. 
 
5:30 pm. Sun Valley Center for the Arts, 191 Fifth Street East, Ketchum
6:30 p.m. Regional History Museum, 180 1st St. at Washington Ave. (entrance is in Forest Service Park), Ketchum

Opening Reception of “Idaho Roots: How Immigration Shaped Our Valley” exhibition

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The Sage School eighth and ninth grade students curate their research and thoughts on Idaho immigration through eight distinct project stories. In each project, students delve into topics such as: how immigration to Idaho from other parts of the world and America affected the lives of Native American tribes; the history of the central Idaho Arkoosh family, who originated from Lebanon; the historical significance of Chinese immigration to Idaho; the history of mining in central Idaho; the tradition of Basque sheep herding in Idaho; the significance of Hailey’s 1880s Swift and Regan General Merchandise and Mining Supplies store; and the realities of present day immigration. The timeline in “Idaho Roots: How Immigration Shaped Our Valley” spans the early 1800s through present day. The students utilize items from The Community Library Center for Regional History archive. They source their ideas in part from 19th and early 20th century naturalization records, 1880s historic photographs, Wood River Valley newspapers, and other items related to immigrants and immigration to the Valley.

An opening reception for the exhibition will be held at the Museum on Thursday, January 24th from 1:30-2:30 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public and it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet the Sage School students and talk with them about their projects. Regular Museum open hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 1-5 p.m. 180 1st St. and Washington, Forest Service Park.

Teens: Action Photography with Hank Dart

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Free Photo Class for Teens: Action Photography with Hank Dart.
Tuesday, June 12 from 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm.
Class will be held at the Sun Valley Museum of History at Forest Service Park (behind the Limelight Hotel in Ketchum).

This class will focus on ACTION Photography but will cover a wide range of topics helpful to anyone wanting to take better photos.
Registration is Required.
Please sign up HERE via EventBrite (search events in Ketchum, ID) or call the Community Library Children’s Desk at 208-726-3493 x2.
This is a FREE class for teens 13+.
Participants should bring a DSLR camera if they have one, but may also bring a point and shoot or camera phone.

Hank Dart is a medical writer, ultra runner, and photographer who lives in Hailey, Idaho. His works have appeared in Camas, Mountain Flyer, Faster Skier, Trail Runner, and Running Times.

Opening Reception: “The Lucky Ones”

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In partnership with the International Rescue Committee, Boise. 
 
Shot by Boise photographer Madeline Scott, “The Lucky Ones” is a unique photo-journalism exhibit chronicling the arrival of refugees to Boise between February and April of 2017, and their subsequent integration into daily life in Boise. The exhibit will run from October 18 to December 9 at the Sun Valley Museum of History, with an opening reception from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Friday, October 20. 

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