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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
Collaboration Before Interview
The collaboration between the narrator and the interviewer begins before the oral history takes place. The two should collaborate with each other on an interview guide in advance of the scheduled interview.
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Background Video
Watch this video for thoughts on choosing the right location and background for a video-recorded oral history.
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What is an Archive
Archives are institutions that keep records from the past including newspapers, photos, letters, maps, postcards, and much more that archivists have deemed to be historically important.
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What is an Oral History
An oral history is a planned conversation about personal life experiences that is recorded and shared with others. Oral histories are defined by the collaboration between the narrator who tells their life stories and the interviewer who listens and asks questions.
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Introduction
William Gow is a community historian with the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California and the author of this essay. Watch his introduction to find out more about what led him to become a community historian. “Introduction,” How to Record an Oral History series, (William Gow, 2025).
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Audio
Margie Lew on joining the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California
In this interview excerpt, Margie Lew (born 1921) discusses the lack of Chinese American history in her history textbooks growing up. She also reflects on her excitement upon learning about the first meeting of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California (CHSSC) in 1975.
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Giving Testimony
Hear 153 testimonies given to the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, highlighting injustices faced by Japanese Americans during WWII.
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Recipients of redress checks
Issei women receiving redress checks and formal apologies from the government acknowledging that it was wrong to have incarcerated them and 120,000 other Japanese Americans during World War II.
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Monterey petition
Petition signed by Monterey, California residents to welcome back Japanese Americans who were forcibly relocated to incarceration camps during World War II. Published in the Monterey Peninsula Herald on May 11, 1945, it was one of the few organized efforts supporting Japanese Americans after the war.
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Barracks at the Manzanar concentration camp
Chapters
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Module 4: Building Community in “Little Saigon”
Thuy Vo Dang
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Vietnamese American Experiences
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Module 5: Politics and Remembrance in the Vietnamese American Community
Thuy Vo Dang
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Vietnamese American Experiences
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Chapter Overview: The Tape Family and Chinese American Civil Rights
Mae Ngai
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Module 4: The Strange Career of a Chinese Interpreter
Mae Ngai
