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Japanese American teens gathered around a table reading at Minidoka

15 Books About Japanese American WWII Incarceration For Readers Of All Ages

Looking for some summer reading for the students—and learners of any age—in your life? Densho Content Director Brian Niiya recommends some graphic novels and youth-friendly books with plotlines related to…

Four teens standing against a brick wall outside the Densho building holding collages they made inspired by Gidra.

Sharing Gidra’s Lessons on Art and Solidarity with the Next Generation of Student Activists

Over the past several months, Densho staff worked with some incredible artists and educators to develop a hands-on zine-making workshop for middle and high school students. Using the radical Asian…

Graphic with the cover of When the Emperor Was Divine over a background photo of Japanese American children in a concentration camp classroom.

Hey Muskego-Norway School Board, Your White Fragility is Showing

Julie Otsuka’s novel, When the Emperor Was Divine, has received numerous distinctions: an Alex Award from the American Library Association; a Literature Award from the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association, and…

Old man standing next to a sign that reads "No Japs allowed to reside in Kane County"

We Need Critical Race Theory in our Schools Now More Than Ever

Here at Densho we talk a lot about the importance of preserving the history of WWII Japanese American incarceration. But we are well aware that this one moment in history…

Announcing a New Digital Genealogy Series

Densho is pleased to announce a new digital genealogy series with Linda Harms Okazaki, noted expert in Japanese American genealogy. All sessions will be held on Zoom and advance registration…

7 Ways To Learn Japanese American History From the Comfort of your Home

As we navigate this new world of mandatory home time, many of us are finding ourselves suddenly having to set up makeshift schools for our kiddos, engage students online, or…

Teacher Workshop: Examining Race and Discrimination

Looking to register for our May 18 Seattle Workshop? Follow this link: bit.ly/Densho-TW-RD201905 This spring, Densho is hitting the road with a new workshop for secondary teachers. Educators in Seattle,…

Japanese American students lined up doing calisthenics exercises outside barracks at Jerome concentration camp

What “Back to School” Looked Like in World War II Concentration Camps

“Nineteen forty-two, how full of events it has been. So many turning points, crisises [sic], days of anxiety and disappointment, yet some happy moments, too. It was like a goodbye to…

Teaching with Primary Sources: Summer 2016 Demonstration Project

We are pleased to announce that we will be launching a new and improved version of our online course later this summer! Watch this space for an announcement in the coming…

Sign up for the May 2016 Densho Digital Teach-In

Far too many Americans are completing primary, secondary, and even college education without learning about a critical moment in our shared history: the World War II mass incarceration of 120,000…

Densho Teach-In

[Update, March 14, 2016: Due to the overwhelming popularity of our first Digital Teach-In, we’ve scheduled a second one to be held May 1-6, 2016. Sign up here and please…

A Response to Mayor David A. Bowers

Today, David A. Bowers, mayor of Roanoke, Virginia, issued a statement that favorably invoked World War II incarceration as justification for his city’s opposition to accepting Syrian refugees.

Eight Essential Japanese American History Books for Young Readers

Jan Kamiya, a young adult librarian in the Hawaii State Public Library System and regular contributor to the Densho Encyclopedia, recommends eight essential books about Japanese American WWII incarceration that…

Why Teach Japanese American WWII History?

Last month, we launched Teaching World War II Japanese American Incarceration with Primary Sources—a free, online course for educators.

Tsuguo “Ike” Ikeda: Talking About Democracy in a Camp Classroom

Tsuguo “Ike” Ikeda was a high school student at the Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho. In this clip, he remembers how he and his camp classmates reacted when their teacher brought…

Freshly Minted Videos – Watch on YouTube

For our latest teacher resource CD (available on request) we produced short videos to illustrate key points of Japanese American history. Teachers have been asking us for a summary video…

Back to School!

This week for the first time, I got to see how Densho’s teaching materials are used in the classroom. It was an eye-opening experience. Our education consultant, Sarah Loudon, and…

Teachers on Board

On Saturday we held the first of two meetings with a dozen (plus a few) teachers who will help Densho test our civil liberties curriculum units in their classrooms this…