HMWF Leaders Named to Washington Museum Commission
October 14, 2026
Shirley Ann Higuchi and Douglas Nelson, chair and vice chair of the Heart Mountain Wyoming Foundation, have been named to a commission to create a history hall in the District of Columbia courts.
The DC Courts History Hall Commission was created by Chief Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigbsy, chief judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, and her predecessor, Judge Eric Washington, to develop a museum inside the courthouse.
The commission will examine how to research and develop exhibits that tell the history of influential cases that have passed through the DC courts.
Higuchi will co-chair the commission with Ellen Jakovic of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Higuchi and Jakovic are both former presidents of the DC Bar, while Higuchi is the immediate past president of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia. Jakovic is a BADC board member.
Higuchi and Nelson were selected for their successful creation of the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center and the Mineta-Simpson Institute on the site of the former War Relocation Authority incarceration site for Japanese Americans during World War II.
“I am deeply honored to help lead this historic commission to tell the story of the significant cases that have passed through the court system and shaped our nation’s history,” Higuchi said. “This involves not only the stories of the cases themselves, but also their impact on our community and the historical context of Washington, D.C., at the time they were heard.”
Photo: Shirley Ann Higuchi & Douglas Nelson pictured 2nd and 3rd from the left in the front row with several other HMWF board members and Executive Director Aura Sunada Newlin at the 2024 Heart Mountain Pilgrimage. Credit: Mark Davis