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Intern Spotlight: Kelsie Flack on Learning History from Those Who Lived It
Kelsie Flack gained a love of archival work during her undergraduate degree when she worked in special collections at the University of Utah’s J.W. Marriott Library. This experience pushed her…
Photo Essay: Japanese Canadian Internment Field School
In this photo essay, Densho’s communications and public engagement director Natasha Varner shares images and some of what she learned during a two-week immersive learning experience about Japanese Canadian internment…
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…
Frozen Hair, Work Stoppages, and Other Lesser-Known Stories from Heart Mountain
Perhaps you know the Heart Mountain, Wyoming, concentration camp for stories of boyhood-friends-turned-congressmen Norman Mineta and Alan Simpson, for the draft resistance of the Heart Mountain Fair Play Committee, for…
Community Curator Spotlight: Dean Terasaki on Memory and Mystery
Erin Shigaki, Seattle-based artist and Densho’s inaugural Community Curator, caught up with photographer Dean Terasaki to learn how he’s turned his lens toward an 80 year old family mystery.
Intern Spotlight: Kathleen Singleton on the Power of Archives
Kathleen Singleton is a mixed Yonsei, born and raised in Seattle, Washington. They graduated from Central Washington University with a BA in Professional and Creative Writing with a minor in…
Intern Spotlight: Ron Martin-Dent on Hidden Connections in the Archives
Densho Archives Intern Ron Martin-Dent shares some lessons learned and surprises uncovered during his time adding new collections to the Densho Digital Repository.
The Kibei Story Is “The Biggest Unexplored Episode In The History Of Japanese Americans.” Here’s Where To Learn More About It.
A recent episode of NPR’s Code Switch explores an often forgotten chapter of Japanese American history: the Kibei story. Kibei were Japanese Americans who were born in the US to…
Counting Down Our Top 5 Most-Read Densho Encyclopedia Articles
Since launching the Densho Encyclopedia in 2012, we’ve published 1,500 articles on Japanese American history written by expert scholars and public historians — making it the go-to resource for many…
Ask a Historian: Why Do Some Survivors Say Camp Was “Fun”?
Densho Content Director Brian Niiya responds to a question from a descendant of the camps who wonders why his Nisei father often shared “happy” memories of the wartime incarceration.
Author Maggie Tokuda-Hall Takes a Stand Against Censorship and the “Deeply American Tradition of Racism”
Earlier this month, author Maggie Tokuda-Hall received a troubling offer from publishing giant Scholastic: they would license Love in the Library, her acclaimed children’s book based on her grandparents’ experiences…
Arrested for Selling Poetry: Shig Murao, Howl, and the Erasure of a Beat Scene Bookslinger
Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti are household names among the leftist literati, but you’ve probably never heard the name Shig Murao. You’re not alone. Despite the fact that Shig…
Densho’s Public Comments on the Lava Ridge Wind Project
The proposed Lava Ridge Wind Project adjacent to the Minidoka National Historic Site would disrupt the site’s historic significance to survivors of WWII incarceration and their descendants. Densho submitted public…
50 Years Ago, Asian Americans Took a Stand at Wounded Knee
In February of 1973, American Indian Movement activists began the occupation of Wounded Knee. Over the course of the 71-day occupation, Indigenous activists and allies – including a delegation of…
Diana Emiko Tsuchida On How Her Grandmother’s Story Helped Her Write Her Own
In this guest post for Women’s History Month, Diana Emiko Tsuchida, creator of the journal and oral history project Tessaku, writes about how her grandmother’s experiences during WWII have shaped…
The Proposed Lava Ridge Wind Farm at Minidoka Is Part of a Larger—and Ongoing—Pattern of Erasing Marginalized Histories
A proposal to build a 76,000-acre wind farm surrounding the former Minidoka concentration camp threatens to erase the site’s historic legacy. The Bureau of Land Management is accepting public comments…
What an 80-year-old cake can tell us about love – and loss – in Japanese American concentration camps
When Frances Nishimura died in 2019 at the age of 102, she left behind a mystery that might never be solved. On a warm spring day in May 2021, Elaine…
#WhoWeRemember: A Collective Memory Project for Day of Remembrance 2023
Last week, Japanese Americans across the country gathered to remember a day that will forever be impressed upon our collective memory. February 19, 1942 — when FDR signed Executive Order…
Community Curator Spotlight: Alison Moritsugu’s “Moons and Internment Stones”
Artist Alison Moritsugu’s work explores our relationship with nature and how the stories we tell about landscapes—often idealized to hide what lies beneath the surface—shape our conceptions of the world…
Ask a Historian: How Did Alaska Natives Wind Up Inside Japanese American Concentration Camps?
Brian Niiya delves into the hidden history of a group of Alaska Natives caught up in the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans in our first “Ask a Historian” entry of…
In Conversation: Artist and Author Katie Yamasaki
Artist and children’s book author Katie Yamasaki has traveled around the world creating murals and stories that explore issues of identity and social justice. Her latest book, Shapes, Lines, and…
This Classic Novel by Yoshiko Uchida Chronicles the Dreams and Struggles of Japanese Picture Brides
In an excerpt from her foreword to a new re-release of Yoshiko Uchida’s Picture Bride, Elena Tajma Creef shines a light on the unsung history of the women who inspired…
Happy 100th Birthday to These 17 Nisei Notables
The early 1920s were the peak of the Nisei baby boom and, according to War Relocation Authority records, the year 1923 saw the second largest number of Nisei (and undoubtedly…
How Naomi Ostwald Kawamura’s Family History Shaped Her Life: An Interview with Densho’s New Executive Director
Densho’s new executive director Naomi Ostwald Kawamura brings with her a deep knowledge and passion about public education’s role in ensuring that the stories of Japanese American WWII incarceration reach…