Fort Missoula’s historical museum has opened an immersive exhibit called “Far From Home” that recreates the experience of men held at the site during World War II, museum officials and Missoula County leaders said in a public discussion on the Missoula County Commissioners’ podcast.

Commissioner Josh Slotnick introduced the program, and Matt Lotzenheiser, director of the historical museum at Fort Missoula, and Ron Wakimoto, professor emeritus at the University of Montana and a museum board member, described the site’s history and the exhibit’s development. Lotzenheiser said the restored barrack and gallery were made possible by a mix of public grants and private fundraising: an assessment costing $60,000 (of which a National Park Service Japanese American Confinement Sites grant covered $40,000), a $533,000 reconstruction grant awarded in 2021, and additional funds from local foundations and donors that brought the project’s total to about $800,000.

The exhibit focuses on personal stories. “What we really wanted was to create something that was immersive, that really allowed people to connect on a human level. To feel it,” Lotzenheiser said. The museum displays artifact reproductions, letters and life-sized bunks and presents five Italian national seafarers and five Japanese Issei men as individual narratives rather than anonymous groups.

Wakimoto and Lotzenheiser reviewed Fort Missoula’s role during World War II, saying the site initially housed detained German and Italian merchant seamen and later held Japanese men rounded up after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Speakers described the legal framework used at the time: references were made to the 1798 Alien Enemies Act and to Executive Order 9066, which enabled the removal and relocation of Japanese Americans. Slotnick quoted President Ronald Reagan’s 1988 Civil Liberties Act apology — “internment ... was based on racial prejudice, wartime hysteria, and a failure of political leadership” — to underline federal recognition and redress.

Panelists explained how Fort Missoula’s experience differed from some inland relocation camps. Wakimoto said Fort Missoula served as a sorting site with “loyalty hearings” and that some men were paroled to join families in relocation centers while others were transferred to Justice Department or military prisoner camps. The speakers noted that treatment and daily conditions varied widely across sites, and they described how families were uprooted under exclusion orders and forced to live in temporary assembly centers and later relocation camps.

Museum staff described the project timeline: the museum began preservation planning after acquiring an original barrack, undertook a building assessment in 2019, secured a major reconstruction grant in 2021, and completed the immersive installation in the following years with support from the National Japanese American Confinement Sites Consortium and national museum partners. Lotzenheiser credited local donors and foundations — including the Tracy Foundation, estate gifts, and local “Friends” fundraising — for closing the gap between grant awards and project costs.

Speakers stressed the exhibit’s purpose as civic education. “We have to keep telling [this story] so people think about their own stance on social justice and ... how do we make this fair,” Wakimoto said. Panelists and Commissioner Slotnick linked the exhibit to broader lessons about civil liberties and cited parallels the speakers see between past wartime actions and present-day debates on immigration and government authority.

The museum also announced Fort Missoula’s July 4 community event and said it will continue “admission by donation” to encourage access and public visitation. Officials urged visitors to use the exhibit as a chance to learn local and national history and to consider the effect of policy choices on individuals.

The discussion concluded with museum staff and commissioners saying they view preserving Fort Missoula and telling internees’ stories as a form of public accountability and education to reduce the chance that such actions are repeated.

Votes at a glance: none — the podcast conversation reported museum activity, grant awards and fundraising; no formal county votes or motions were recorded during the segment.