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Asian American and Pacific Islander studies resources for the classroom
All chapters of Foundations and Futures include lesson plans and curricular tools that are designed for high school students and grounded in ethnic studies pedagogy. Feel free to search our repository of primary sources and material that helps bring Asian American and Pacific Islander histories and experiences into the classroom.
Multimedia
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Video
Homer Yasui Interview Segment 9
Hearing about the bombing of Pearl Harbor: “My heart sank down to my toes”
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Japanese Relocation Order, 1942
Issued by President Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, this order authorized the evacuation of all persons deemed a threat to national security from the West Coast to relocation centers further inland.
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“How to Tell Your Friends from the Japs”
For decades, Chinese immigrants were reviled in the United States. But China was a US ally during World War II. A December 22, 1941 Time magazine article, “How to Tell Your Friends From the Japs,” included these comparative images and the guidance that “the Chinese expression is likely to be more placid, kindly, open; the Japanese more positive, dogmatic, arrogant.” Articles like this illustrate how international politics impacted the treatment and perception of Asians in the United States.
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Nursery School Children Singing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Schools in the camps, like this one shown here at Tule Lake, ran the gamut from nursery programs to high schools.
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Laborers at the Tule Lake Agricultural Field
Given wartime food rationing and labor shortages, Japanese Americans, like these Tule Lake inmates, labored in nearby agricultural fields to raise crops to feed themselves.
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Family during mass removal
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Rafu Yossai Gakuen
Japanese American-owned businesses, like this sewing school in Los Angeles’ “Little Tokyo,” clustered in Japantowns on the West Coast.
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Matsuura Company Tailors
Japanese American-owned businesses, like this tailor shop in Los Angeles’ “Little Tokyo,” clustered in Japantowns on the West Coast.
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Yuka and Michi Yasui
Yuka (left) and Michi (right) Yasui, circa 1929, were raised to appreciate their Japanese heritage. Yuka also took tap and ballet lessons. Michi took piano lessons. Both girls performed publicly, even appearing on a Portland radio program, Stars of Tomorrow.
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Japanese Community Hall Christmas pageant in Hood River, Oregon
Christmas pageant inside the Hood River Japanese Community Hall, circa 1931.
Chapters
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Module
Module 3: To Do Something or Nothing: The Decision to Take Action
Helen Zia
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Module
Module 4: Building a Pan-Asian American Civil Rights Movement
Helen Zia
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Module 5: The Continued Impact and Legacy of Vincent Chin’s Story
Helen Zia
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Japanese Americans
Brian Niiya and Kristen Hayashi
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Module
Module 1: Still Here After Five Generations and Counting
Brian Niiya and Kristen Hayashi
Chapter:
Japanese Americans
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Module 2: Building Homes and Community in the Shadow of Two Empires (1885-1941)
Brian Niiya and Kristen Hayashi
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Japanese Americans
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Module 3: Looking Like the Enemy (1942-1945)
Brian Niiya and Kristen Hayashi
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Japanese Americans
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Module 4: From Pariahs to “Model Minorities”
Brian Niiya and Kristen Hayashi
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Japanese Americans
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Module 5: Balancing Past and Present (1970s to the present)
Brian Niiya and Kristen Hayashi
Chapter:
Japanese Americans
