The papers of Congressman Norman Y. Mineta cover the period from 1975 to 1996 and measure approximately 45 linear feet. This collection consists of correspondence, memoranda, government publications, speeches, newspaper clippings, books, briefings, photographs, video and audio recordings, and meeting notes. These materials document Congressman Mineta's involvement in the redress movement. Also included are some non-redress materials related to civil rights issues, especially as they pertain to Asian Americans and Americans from the Pacific Islands, as well as materials that document his campaign activities. Mineta's office staff selected materials to donate to the Japanese American National Museum, therefore, the Museum holds only a part of Mineta's congressional office files.

Norman Yoshio Mineta was the first Japanese American to serve as Mayor of a major American city and the first from the continental United States to be elected to Congress. Mineta was born in San Jose, California on November 12, 1931. During World War II, he and other Japanese Americans living on the West Coast were incarcerated in concentration camps because of their ancestry. Mineta and his family were interned at the Heart Mountain concentration camp 1 in Wyoming from 1942 to 1945. Upon returning from camp, he graduated from San Jose High School in 1949 and the University of California, Berkeley in 1953. After college, Mineta served in the United States Army from 1953-56. After he left the Army, he went into the family insurance business.1Heart Mountain was the site of one of 10 concentration camps that housed Japanese Americans forcibly removed form the West Coast states during World War II. It was located in northwestern Wyoming, in Park County, 13 miles northeast of Cody. Heart Mountain opened on August 12, 1942 and closed November 10, 1945.

Publication Rights All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at the Japanese American National Museum (hnrc@janm.org).

Access Collection is open for research by appointment. Please contact the Japanese American National Museum's Manabi & Sumi Hirasaki National Resource Center at (213) 830-5680 or hnrc@janm.org to schedule an appointment. The Resource Center hours are Tuesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.