MOAB, Utah — The Moab Museum will plan to shed light on a dark time in Grand County History this spring.
“It's not just a Moab story,” said Mary Langworthy, Public Programs Manager. “It's really an American story.”
During World War II in 1943, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp called Dalton Wells, about 14 miles north of downtown Moab, was transformed into a temporary prison for Japanese Americans, said Langworthy.
“It was a prison camp among all the different incarceration camps,” she said. “So folks that were sent to Moab were sent here because they were alleged ‘Troublemakers.’”
For the first time, the Moab Museum will introduce this piece of history to the community.
‘A Moab Prison Camp’ is a collaboration of descendants of survivors and experts around the country, said Langworthy.
It's one of those little pieces of our past that even though it was relatively brief, hasn't really made it into the story of this place in a big way,” she said. “The exhibit is aiming to share that story that hasn't been shared widely in Moab before.”
With construction underway for Utahraptor State Park’ on the same site, Utah State Parks will continue educating visitors of the events that took place there, long after the museum’s exhibit comes down, said Langworthy.
“It's a site rich in fossils and a site also home to this history of the Moab Isolation Center,” she said.
The Moab Prison Camp exhibit will be up through June 29. The Moab Museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 to 5.
