Hosted by Texas Tech University, “The Vietnam Center and Sam Johnson Vietnam Archive collects and preserves the documentary record of the Vietnam War, and supports and encourages research and education regarding all aspects of the American Vietnam Experience.”
Time of Fear is a documentary published in 2004 by PBS that tells the story of Japanese Americans incarcerated at the Rohwer and Jerome camps in southeast Arkansas during World War II. Featuring rare home movie footage and interviews with former incarcerees and local residents, the film explores themes of racism, fear, and resilience. It offers a powerful lens into the intersections of race, place, and memory in one of the most segregated regions of the rural South.
Published in 2017 by filmmaker Vivienne Schiffer—daughter of former McGehee mayor Rosalie Gould—Relocation, Arkansas explores the long-term effects of Japanese American incarceration in Arkansas. The documentary follows the generation born after the camps closed, the stories of those who chose to remain in Arkansas, and the surprising relationship between the Japanese American community and Mayor Gould (who served from 1983 to 1995). Through themes of race, healing, and cross-cultural understanding, the film offers a deeply human perspective on a legacy of exclusion and resilience.
Densho is a leading digital archive and educational platform dedicated to preserving the histories of Japanese Americans incarcerated during World War II. The site features over 900 oral histories, along with tens of thousands of photos, documents, letters, and newspapers. It also offers age-appropriate lesson plans and classroom resources, making it one of the most comprehensive tools for teaching about Japanese American incarceration.
Hosted by the Bobby L. Roberts Library of Arkansas History & Art (part of the Central Arkansas Library System), this resource offers a concise overview of Japanese American incarceration during World War II. Its centerpiece is the Rosalie Santine Gould – Mabel Jamison Vogel Collection, featuring hundreds of artworks created by Japanese Americans imprisoned at the Rohwer and Jerome camps in Arkansas. These paintings and drawings offer powerful visual testimony to life behind barbed wire and are ideal for interdisciplinary lessons combining history, art, and civil rights.
This digital project explores the history and legacy of Japanese American incarceration at Rohwer and Jerome during World War II. Using maps, archival materials, photographs, and spatial storytelling, the site helps students visualize how thousands of Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated and confined from 1942–1946.
This discussion guide includes a timeline, discussion questions, activities, and a chapter-by-chapter breakdown to facilitate learning and conversation on themes established in Far East Deep South, an award-winning film directed by Larissa Lam and produced by Baldwin Chiu. Far East Deep South follows a Chinese American family’s journey to the Mississippi Delta, where they uncover surprising family revelations and explore the complex history of Chinese immigrants in the segregated South. The film highlights the deep connections between the Chinese and Black communities during the Jim Crow era and the lasting impact of discriminatory immigration policies.
Founded in 2023 as a joint initiative of the University of Central Arkansas’ Center for Asian Languages and Cultures and the Chinese Association of Arkansas, the Arkansas Chinese Heritage Project documents the experiences of Chinese Americans in Arkansas through oral histories, archival research, and educational resources. The site includes lesson plans on the Chinese Exclusion Act and the 1869 Memphis Planters Convention, offering students a localized lens on national conversations about immigration, labor, and race in American history.
Founded in 2021 by Stewart and Patricia Kwoh, using learning resources developed in partnership with the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, Stanford University SPICE and PBS Learning media, this site contains over 48 individual lesson plans for grades K-12 focused on various aspects of Asian American history, organized by time period, with fantastic search features! Here are a few with specific connections to the South:
This site offers a curated collection of primary sources, lesson plans, and contextual timelines on U.S. immigration history. Developed under the direction of Dr. Madeline Hsu—an expert in Asian American Studies and editor of Asian American History: A Very Short Introduction—the resource provides accessible, classroom-ready materials with a strong focus on Asian American experiences and broader immigration narratives.
This lesson plan from iCivics offers an engaging mini-lesson on the Supreme Court decision that mandated public schools provide language supports to English and multilingual learners. Initiated because students of Chinese ancestry who did not speak English were receiving inadequate instruction, this case underscores the importance of educational equity. Designed for students in grades 6-12, the lesson also connects Lau’s arguments to Brown v. Board of Education (1954) case and explores how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects students from discrimination.
These lesson plans from the Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies provide an insight into the experiences of youth within World War II Japanese American internment camps through primary and secondary sources. Lessons are available for students in grades K-12.
