Search the Media Repository
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.
Multimedia
Chapters
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Atomic bombs, August 1945
The detonation of atomic bombs by the United States over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right) in August 1945 are the only times nuclear weapons have ever been used against civilian populations. Up to 250,000 were killed.
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Filipino prisoners of war, Manila, 1899
US soldiers hold Filipino prisoners of war in Manila, 1899. The Philippine-American War resulted in the US occupation of the Philippines until 1946.
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Copra making, Samoa, ca. 1918
Workers with large piles of coconut husks and shells in Sāmoa, circa 1918. Samoan coconut farmers resisted colonial rule from the US, Germany, and Great Britain, by establishing their own cooperatives.
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The First Opium War
The First Opium War occurred after the Qing Dynasty attempted to stifle the opium trade that was brought into China by the British, which had resulted in millions of Chinese opium users. The Chinese defeat in the war led to further concessions for the British.
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1843 painting by Edward Duncan
An 1843 painting by Edward Duncan depicts the British navy’s more technologically-advanced gunboats destroying Chinese sailing ships known as “junks” during the first Opium War.
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The flag of the British East India Company
The flag of the British East India Company, a corporation which ruled large areas of the Indian subcontinent before ceding rule to the British government in the mid-1800s, which then controlled much of South Asia until 1947.
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Colonial Spheres of Influence in Asia 1850-1914
This map shows the various colonial spheres of influence in Asia between 1850–1914.
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The Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire began in the fourteenth century and ended in the early twentieth century, and controlled much Western Asia, Southeastern Europe, and parts of North Africa. The Ottomans closed their borders to land trade during the bubonic plague in the fifteenth century.
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The Silk Road
The Silk Road was an ancient trading route that connected Asia to Europe, by merchants who travelled by foot, horse, or camel.
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NYTWA Covid-19 Resource Guide
During Covid-19, thousands of taxi drivers turned to the NYTWA for help. In response, the NYTWA created this Resource Guide to provide information on accessing health care, rental assistance, food, unemployment insurance, stimulus checks, and ways to deal with discrimination.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 5
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Uber and Lyft Drivers On Strike
In 2019, Uber and Lyft drivers went on strike to protest low wages with the influx of drivers; this video features Inder Parmer, a striking Uber driver.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 5
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Map of Asia
When the New York Taxi Workers Alliance started, about 60 to 70 percent of cab drivers were South Asian, mainly of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi heritages. In the 2020s, drivers also included many people of Nepalese, Tibetan, Burmese, Malaysian, and Chinese backgrounds. This map by the Nations Online Project shows the region of Asia where many drivers have come from.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 5
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The New I-Hotel
The new I-Hotel sits at the same site as the original. The mural by Johanna Poethig commemorates the fight for low-income housing and pays tribute to former tenants such as Etta Moon, Luisa de la Cruz, Wahat Tompao, and Al Robles.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 4
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Fight For Decent Low Rent Housing
This poster for the Fight for Decent Low Rent Housing by artist Rachael Romero and the San Francisco Poster Brigade features Felix Ayson and the International Hotel struggle.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 4
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I-Hotel Supporters Form Human Barricade
I-Hotel supporters and the International Hotel Tenants Association form a human barricade in front of the I-Hotel when tenants were forcibly evicted on August 4, 1977 night and faced 300 police in riot gear.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 4
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I-Hotel Supporters Link Arms
I-Hotel supporters, including Pam Tau Lee (center), link arms to form a human barricade in front of the I-Hotel.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 4
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I-Hotel Protest
Women sit in front of the iconic “WE WON’T MOVE” sign outside of the I-Hotel to protest the eviction of long standing tenants.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 4
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Fight for the International Hotel Poster
This Fight for the International Hotel poster, created by Rachael Romero (artist) and San Francisco Poster Brigade, features text translated into multiple languages to bring community members together.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 3
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I-Hotel Tenant Felix Ayson and Supporter
I-Hotel tenant Felix Ayson speaks with a supporter after the eviction. Felix lived in the I-Hotel for fifty-five years, and was a strong organizer post-eviction.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 3
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Portrait of I-Hotel Tenant Wahat Tompao
I-Hotel tenant Wahat Tompao sits outside of the I-Hotel after being evicted on August 4, 1977. He fearlessly stood up to city officials and called attention to competing claims in the fight over the I-Hotel.
Featured in:
Asian American Activism, Module 3
