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Discover the curated images, videos, and primary sources featured throughout Foundations and Futures

History is more than just text on a page; it is the photographs, voices, and artifacts of the people who lived it. The images and recordings featured across Foundations and Futures are part of a meticulously curated media repository. Whether you are building a lesson plan or investigating an artifact, you can use this database to trace the provenance of our media: discover who created an asset, the historical context behind it, and how it can be used to bring Asian American and Pacific Islander experiences into your classroom.

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  • A large crowd waits to enter through arched temple gate. A covered pavilion has a banner that reads "Louisiana Lao New Year Festival."
    Image
    Louisiana Lao New Year Festival

    The Louisiana Lao New Year Festival is held annually at Wat Thammarattanaram on Champa Avenue in Broussard, Louisiana.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 4
    View multimedia
  • Program for Khmu New Year celebration with two men performing dance while carrying swords. Text in Khmu, Lao and English state the title of the event.
    Image
    Khmu New Year Celebration

    This flyer for the Khmu New Year on November 25, 1983, demonstrates the importance of continuing their cultural heritage and traditions with the sword dance.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 4
    View multimedia
  • Eight Laotian men celebrate Lao New Year by singing, dancing and playing musical instruments in front of festive Lao decorations.
    Image
    Lao New Year Party

    Despite the small numbers of Lao refugees in 1981, the community still found ways to continue their culture and celebrate the new year in San Rafael, California.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 4
    View multimedia
  • Video
    Lao New Year Festival

    Scenes from the 2019 Louisiana Lao New Year Festival, featuring live performances, cultural traditions, and street food vendors.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 4
    View multimedia
  • A Laotian family sits around a centerpiece filled with flowers, candles, offerings, and white cotton strings for a baci ceremony.
    Image
    Baci Ceremony

    The baci ceremony, also known as su kwan (“calling of the spirit”) is held to commemorate special occasions like marriage, giving birth, a wedding, the Lao New Year and more to maintain balance and promote harmony.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 4
    View multimedia
  • Khamchanh Louanphixay, a man dressed in a button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, sits on a stack of bagged rice in the middle of his store.
    Image
    Khamchanh Louanphixay in His Store

    Lao stores provided goods and food products familiar to Lao refugees, such as rice from Thailand. Pictured: Khamchanh Louanphixay inside his Lao store Nam San Market.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 4
    View multimedia
  • Young girls, all dressed in matching shirts, skirts, and shawls, perform on an outdoor stage. On the right a man plays a Lao mouth organ on stage.
    Image
    San Francisco Street Fair Performance

    Many Lao refugees engaged in events highlighting their identities and culture, such as this street fair in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 4
    View multimedia
  • Foundations and Futures Placeholder Image
    Audio
    Healing Out Lao’d

    This is the first podcast by Healing Out Lao’d, created and hosted by Rita Phetmixay. Here, Rita shares the moment that inspired her to start this podcast, and reflects on how healing and joy can be an option for children of refugees.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 3
    View multimedia
  • Rita Phetmixay poses with a yellow shirt in a field on a cloudy day. The shirt reads "HOL Healing Out Lao'd."
    Image
    Rita Phetmixay

    Rita Phetmixay is the host of the podcast Healing Out Lao’d, which explores themes of intergenerational trauma and healing within the Lao diaspora.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 3
    View multimedia
  • Foundations and Futures Placeholder Image
    Audio
    Pida Kongphoutone Oral History

    Pida Kongphoutone, a community member of LAOSD, talks about his involvement with different local and national organizations, helping the Lao American community through AB-1393, and how different generations can learn from one another.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 3
    View multimedia
  • Letter from Governor Gavin Newsom to the Members of the California State Assembly vetoing AB-1393 and providing the reason for doing so.
    Text
    Governor Newsom Vetos AB-1393

    Despite receiving bipartisan support across the California State Legislature, Governor Newsom vetoed AB-1393 on October 12th, 2019.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 3
    View multimedia
  • Page one of Assembly Committee on Education hearing on AB-1393, which proposes curriculum on Laotian history and cultural studies be developed.
    Text
    AB-1393 Hearing

    The Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC), the Laotian American National Alliance (LANA), and the Lao Americans Organization of San Diego (LAOSD) worked with Shirley Weber (a State Assembly member at the time) in a statewide movement to include Lao history and the Laotian American experience as part of AB-1393.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 3
    View multimedia
  • Graphic of a woman thinking next to a list of vague instructions with a check mark. Text in English and Lao reads, "Make A Voting Plan."
    Text
    LANA Voting Plan

    These graphics created by the Laotian American National Alliance (LANA) feature text in both English and Laotian, encouraging members of the Laotian American community to participate in civic engagement and stay informed about ballot measures.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 3
    View multimedia
  • Graphic of a woman holding two sheets of paper with a light bulb next to her head. Text in English and Lao reads, "Understand What's On Your Ballot."
    Text
    LANA Understanding the Ballot

    These graphics created by the Laotian American National Alliance (LANA) feature text in both English and Laotian, encouraging members of the Laotian American community to participate in civic engagement and stay informed about ballot measures.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 3
    View multimedia
  • Graphic of one person giving another a thumbs up. Text in English and Lao reads, "Increase Voting Engagement In Your Community."
    Text
    LANA Voter Engagement

    These graphics created by the Laotian American National Alliance (LANA) feature text in both English and Laotian, encouraging members of the Laotian American community to participate in civic engagement and stay informed about ballot measures.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 3
    View multimedia
  • Twelve members of the Laotian American National Alliance attend a meeting around a conference table. Snacks and office supplies cover the table.
    Image
    Laotian American National Alliance (LANA) Meeting

    Founded in 1999, The Laotian American National Alliance (LANA) aims to uplift and empower Laotian Americans’ multi-ethnic community through education, visibility, and collaboration.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 3
    View multimedia
  • A drawing in markers of a farming village in Laos being bombed by a plane on the top right. Villagers are lying dead and fires are burning the houses.
    Image
    View of the U.S. Air War Campaign

    An original drawing from Voices from the Plain of Jars: Life Under an Air War of an airplane dropping three bombs.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 2
    View multimedia
  • Pen and crayon drawing of dismembered bodies of Laotians and their livestock on a field on fire. Two planes fly in the top left corner.
    Image
    View of the U.S. Air War Campaign

    An original drawing from Voices from the Plain of Jars: Life Under an Air War, depicting the US air war campaign perpetuated in secrecy that destroyed a village.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 2
    View multimedia
  • On a crude wooden bench are stacks of metal spoons between a set of pliers and a metal file. In front of the bench are three tin roofed structures.
    Image
    Melted Bomb Metal Spoons

    In Ban Naphia, families melt bomb metals and scraps to craft spoons. They transformed remnants of war into sources of income.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 2
    View multimedia
  • Museum display shows bombs dropped in Laos by the U.S. A sign in Lao and English reading "Danger!! UXO!!" appears in front of display.
    Image
    Different Bombs Used in Laos

    An exhibit of various bombs used in Laos during the Vietnam War era, highlighting the extensive and lasting impact of UXO on the region at COPE Visitor Center Museum.

    Featured in:
    Laotian Americans, Module 2
    View multimedia
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The Asian American Studies Center acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands) and pay our respects to the honuukvetam (ancestors), ‘ahiihirom (elders), and ‘eyoohiinkem (relatives/relations) past, present, and emerging.

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