The Cody Library welcomes author Ben Murphy for a book talk on “Heart Mountain Chronicles: The History of a Japanese Relocation Center” on Wednesday, July 23 at 4 p.m. in Grizzly Hall.

Murphy will speak about the extensive research and personal experiences that informed the book, which he co-authored with his brother, James Murphy. The authors lived at the Heart Mountain Relocation Center with their family from 1948 to 1950, years after it had been used to imprison Japanese-Americans during World War II. Their father, a civil engineer with the Bureau of Reclamation, worked at the site as part of the Shoshone Reclamation Project, and the brothers’ memories of living in the former barracks sparked their interest in the camp’s origins.

Published in June 2024, “Heart Mountain Chronicles” provides a meticulously detailed account of the planning, construction and operation of the Heart Mountain Relocation Center — one of 10 camps built by the U.S. during World War II to forcibly incarcerate persons of Japanese ancestry. The book documents the creation of a temporary city in Wyoming, where more than 11,000 people lived behind barbed wire. It explores the infrastructure developed both by the government and the imprisoned civilians themselves — schools, hospitals, newspapers, and systems of self-governance — all created with limited resources and under harsh conditions.

This is not only a study of infrastructure, blueprints and logistics, but also a tribute to the resilience and creativity of those who were unjustly detained. The book includes many previously unpublished photographs and documents, offering a unique perspective on this dark chapter in American history.

The book talk is free and open to the public. Copies of “Heart Mountain Chronicles” will be available for purchase at the event. For more information, please contact the Cody Library at (307) 527-1880 or email cody@parkcountylibrary.org.