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What Social Studies Standards Reveal About How and Why We Teach History
Densho Executive Director Naomi Ostwald Kawamura reflects on what it means to teach history responsibly, as debates over social studies standards—including recent proposed changes to Texas’s curriculum—reveal that how we…
Texas Students Deserve Honest History
In this conversation, Densho’s Senior Development and Communications Manager Jennifer Noji talks with Courtney Wai, Densho’s Education and Public Programs Manager, and Akeela Kongdara, Senior Programs Associate of Asian Texans…
Importance of Accessibility at Historic Sites
In this guest contribution, historian and PhD student Selena Moon explores the importance of accessibility at historic sites, highlighting how many sites have been and continue to be inaccessible. She…
Educator Spotlight: Satsuki Ina
Dr. Satsuki Ina is a licensed psychotherapist specializing in community trauma and author of The Poet and the Silk Girl (2024). She helps victims of oppression to claim not only…
Remembering Kyoko Nancy Oda and Her Life’s Work
We are heartbroken by the passing of Kyoko Nancy Oda, a giant in the Nikkei community and one of our oral history narrators. Born at Tule Lake in 1945 to…
An Archive of Fact and Fiction: A Review of Karen Tei Yamashita’s “Questions 27 & 28”
In this guest contribution, UCLA PhD Student Amber Hisatomi reviews Karen Tei Yamashita’s new novel, Questions 27 & 28. The book captures the movement and history of Japanese Americans from…
A Conversation with Founder Tom Ikeda: Personal Reflections on Densho’s Origins and Evolution
Tom Ikeda founded Densho in 1996 with a vision that was equal parts technological ambition and community commitment. Over more than two decades as executive director, he helped build the…
Intern Spotlight: The importance of Remembering Asian American History within Our U.S. History
Densho Public Engagement Intern Emma Lee reflects on how her time at Densho deepened her understanding of Asian American history, belonging, and the power of archival preservation to affirm that…
Exploring Tamiko Nimura’s New Book “A Place For What We Lose”
Tamiko Nimura’s new book A Place For What We Lose: A Daughter’s Return to Tule Lake braids her family history at Tule Lake with her own journey as a descendant….
Densho’s Listening Guide to “Burn Order”
This guide provides additional historical context for each episode of MS NOW’s podcast Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order. The guide highlights overlooked stories and details, addresses omissions and errors, and…
Miné Okubo’s Citizen 13660: Drawing as Documentation and Resistance
Decades before the modern graphic novel emerged as a popular genre, Miné Okubo’s Citizen 13660 used visual storytelling to document the trauma of WWII Japanese American incarceration. In this guest…
Photo Essay: Densho in the Community for Day of Remembrance 2026
For this year’s Day of Remembrance 2026, Densho staff joined communities across the U.S. to honor and commemorate the survivors, descendants, and stories of WWII Japanese American incarceration. Staff participated…
Protecting Immigrant Students (Part I): What Japanese American Incarceration Teaches Us About Educator Responsibility
In this two-part series, Densho’s Education and Public Programs Manager, Courtney Wai, reflects on how her experiences as a classroom teacher working with immigrant students shaped her understanding of immigration…
Protecting Immigrant Students (Part II): Resources and Strategies for Creating Safer Classrooms
This piece concludes our two-part series on how educators can support immigrant students. In the first installment, Courtney Wai, Densho’s Education & Public Programs Manager, shares how her experience teaching and…
Building the Densho Digital Repository: Three Decades of Digital Preservation
How did Densho’s digital archives begin, and how have they evolved over nearly three decades? Densho Archives Director Caitlin Oiye Coon traces the journey from the creation of Densho’s first…
Uncovering Lost Histories in “Safe Passage”: A Preview of Evelyn Iritani’s New Book
Evelyn Iritani’s new book, Safe Passage: The Untold Story of Diplomatic Intrigue, Betrayal, and the Exchange of American and Japanese Civilians by Sea During World War II, uncovers a little-known…
Guidelines for Choosing Children’s Books on Japanese American Incarceration
In this conversation, Densho’s Senior Development and Communications Manager Jen Noji speaks with Brian Niiya, Content Director, and Courtney Wai, Education and Public Programs Manager, about how to thoughtfully select…
Loni Ding, Godmother of Asian American Documentary Filmmaking
In 2014, Densho received an extensive collection of materials from the family of acclaimed filmmaker Loni Ding. This collection included hundreds of media that were produced by Ding to create…
Japanese American Community Excitement and Opinions about Rachel Maddow’s “Burn Order”
In this collaborative post, Japanese American community members and organizers reflect on the impact, value, and effects of the MS NOW podcast Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order. The podcast, released…
“Burn Order”: The Latest Retelling of the WWII Incarceration Story
The popular MS NOW podcast Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order is the latest retelling of the Japanese American exclusion and incarceration story to draw a large mainstream audience. While a…
Eric L. Muller: Guest Perspective on Rachel Maddow’s “Burn Order”
Legal historian Eric L. Muller—Dan K. Moore Distinguished Professor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill—raises important historiographical questions about MS NOW’s podcast Rachel Maddow Presents: Burn Order. Looking closely…
Launching the Densho Public Index of Japanese American Collections on this Day of Remembrance 2026
Each year, February 19th brings us back to a crucial date in 1942. On that day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, a decision that authorized the forced…
Ask a Historian: What were the Experiences of Disabled People during WWII Incarceration?
In this new installment of our running “Ask A Historian” series, guest writer Selena Moon—a PhD student researching Japanese American disability history and working on accessibility in various realms—explores the…
Educator Spotlight: Tamara Bunnell
Tamara Bunnell is a high school History Teacher and Dean of Students in Seattle, Washington. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree from The Evergreen State College and a Master’s Degree from…