Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Studies Resources

Asian American Resource Database - Asian Americans Advancing Justice

This Airtable database was developed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice out of Chicago in response to Illinois’ TEAACH Act, like Rhode Island’s AANHPI studies legislation. The database contains recommended books, lessons, and other resources and can be searched by grade level, topic, theme, and ethnicity. Please keep in mind that the standards alignment that is listed are those of the Illinois State Board of Education.

Asian American History 101 – An 1882 Productions podcast

This podcast is run by 1882 Productions is about Asian Pacific Islander American contributions and history.  

Asian American and Pacific Islander History – History Channel

Various topics to explore on the History Channel’s page on Asian American and Pacific Islander history.

Asian Americans - PBS

Asian Americans is a five-hour film series. The series tells the history of Asian Americans through intimate and personal narratives. The series provides a lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played in shaping the nation’s story.

Asian Americans in the People’s History of the United States – Zinn Education Project

Brief profiles of people and events from Asian American and Pacific Islander people's history.

Asian Enough – A Podcast from the Los Angeles Times

From the Los Angeles Times, “Asian Enough” is a podcast about being Asian American — the joys, the complications and everything in between. In each episode hosts Jen Yamato, Johana Bhuiyan, Tracy Brown and Suhauna Hussain of The Times invite special guests to share personal stories and unpack identity on their own terms. They explore the vast diaspora across cultures, backgrounds and generations, and try to expand the ways in which being Asian American is defined. 

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month – National Archives

May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America's history and are instrumental in its future success.

Asian Pacific American History – National Museum of American History

Join the National Museum of American History in exploring the rich and complex histories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through NMAH's collections, exhibitions, archives, and scholarly research.

Chinese Exclusion Act – History Channel

These history channel resources highlight the role of the Chinese in building the Transcontinental Railroad, and the discrimination facing the Chinese American community thought the Exclusion Act.

Chinese Historical Society of America

The Chinese Historical Society of America offers educators classroom resources that they can use before, during, or after their visit to the museum. The curriculum guides listed contain resources related to Chinese American Exclusion/Inclusion or Towards Equality: California’s Chinese American Women

Classroom Resources on AAPI History and Contemporary Life – Facing History and Ourselves

This page on the Facing History and Ourselves website has a listing of free webinars, documentaries, and lessons.  Their listing is broken up into categories – Japanese American Incarceration, Chinese American Experience and Chinese Political History, and Native Hawaiians and Indigenous Sovereignty.

Day of Remembrance 2022: Executive Order 9066 and Its Legacies – Rhode Island Historical Society, Museum of Work & Culture (video)

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066, the Museum of Work & Culture welcomed Ken Nomiyama, who was born in an incarceration camp in Northern California, and Jim McIlwain, a student of Japanese American history, to discuss EO 9066 and its consequences during World War II and today. This program was made possible with the support of the New England Japanese American Citizens League and was presented in conjunction with Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II, a Smithsonian poster exhibit.

Dear Asian Americans – A podcast

Dear Asian Americans is a podcast for and by Asian Americans, focusing on authentic storytelling rooted in origin, identity, and legacy. Host Jerry Won brings on guests from diverse backgrounds and career paths to celebrate, support, and inspire the Asian American community. 

Family Memories: A Conversation about Camp and Its Aftermath – Rhode Island Historical Society, Museum of Work & Culture (video)

David Sakura, Ph.D. and Margie Yamamoto engage in conversation about the experiences of themselves and their families during and after World War II. This program was moderated by Erin Aoyama, Ph.D. candidate in American Studies, Brown University. This program was made possible with the support of the New England Japanese American Citizens League and was presented in conjunction with Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II, a Smithsonian poster exhibit.

Filipino American Contributions to the Farm Labor Movement – History Channel

Larry Itliong, Filipino labor activists and leader, and Filipino American’s contributions to the US farm labor movement also known as the Grape Boycott of the 1960’s.

Immigrant Voices – Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

A growing archive of personal stories of immigrants to the Pacific Coast from Angel Island Immigration Station detainees to those arriving today.

Integrating Asian American Experiences into Reading and Social Studies: For Grades K-5 - Asian Americans Advancing Justice

Developed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice out of Chicago in response to Illinois’ TEAACH Act, like Rhode Island’s AANHPI studies legislation, this resource has a list of recommended grade-level appropriate books and lessons by social studies domain and ethnicity.

Integrating Asian American History into Social Studies: For Grades 6-12 - Asian Americans Advancing Justice

Developed by Asian Americans Advancing Justice out of Chicago in response to Illinois’ TEAACH Act, like Rhode Island’s AANHPI studies legislation, this resource has outlined Asian American history topics within the greater US history timeline. It also has links to sample resources for middle and high school by topic.

Japanese American Incarceration in World War II – The Choices Program, Brown University

This free resource is from the Choices Program at Brown University (click on “Purchase” then add to cart to purchase for free). The unit is divided into three parts and includes readings and accompanying lessons that include newspaper analysis, oral histories, and art.  There is no suggested grade level, but the lessons are likely geared toward high school.

Japanese American Internment – Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources

This is a primary sources set from the Library of Congress through the Teaching with Primary Sources program and includes a Teacher’s Guide.

National Cambodian American Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial

The Museum & Memorial is the only museum of its kind in the US, which dedicates its programs and activities to the Cambodian genocide awareness and social justice, advocacy for genocide survivors and their families, healing arts, and youth leadership development in social justice. During the past 10 years, the Museum & Memorial has made significant impacts on the Cambodian community both locally and nationally, and on the general public.

National Indo-American Museum

IAM is a unique and inclusive institution, a living museum located in the heart of Chicago’s Indian American commercial district at the Indo-American Center. NIAM developed organically as the community matured and became increasingly aware of the need for information about its past, of the steady loss of its pioneers and first voices who are the original sources of its history, and of the growing need for cross cultural understanding.

“Never Again is Now”: Incarceration Histories and Solidarity – Choices Program, Brown University

In this lesson, students will use primary sources to compare and contrast Japanese American incarceration in World War II and contemporary migrant detention, assess the role of xenophobia and racism in these case studies, and explore how knowledge of history can inspire activism and build solidarity across communities.

Our Voices: Community Stories – Southeast Asian Resource Action Center (SEARAC)

Stories by Southeast Asian Americans about post-war intergenerational trauma in refugee families, student experiences in education, and deportation.

Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II – National Museum of American History

This website is based on an exhibition that was on view at the National Museum of American History from February 2017 to July 2019.

South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)

SAADA (the South Asian American Digital Archive) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization based in Philadelphia, PA. SAADA seeks to create a more inclusive society by giving voice to South Asian Americans through documenting, preserving, and sharing stories that represent their unique and diverse experiences.

Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center

The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center brings history, art and culture through innovative museum experiences and digital initiatives.

Teacher Education Research Collaborative Inquiries  - National Council for the Social Studies

This page on the National Council for the Social Studies website features a listing of AAPI history lessons using the C3 Framework Inquiry Design Model.  Lessons are organized by grade span and cover Grades 3 to 12.

Teaching Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage – National Education Association

This page by the National Education Association has resources by grade band that include lesson plans, activities, teacher guides, recommended books, and more. 

The Asian American Education Project

The online lesson plans here provide a tailored K–12 curriculum for educators to teach Asian American history to students. These lessons provide information on the journey of Asian immigrants and their native–born children within America’s timeline—both dark and bright, from exclusion to acceptance.

The Japanese American Experience – Japanese American Citizens League

In 1982, the federal Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians (CWRIC) found that the broad causes that led to the incarceration of Japanese Americans and resident Japanese aliens were “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.” This guide addresses the issues of the wartime relocation and internment of Japanese American Civilians during World War II.

Untold Civil Rights Stories Online: Lesson Plans – UCLA Asian American Studies Center

Stories by Southeast Asian Americans about post-war intergenerational trauma in refugee families, student experiences in education, and deportation.

View of Americans by Vietnamese during the Vietnam War

How did people in South Vietnam view Americans during the U.S. war in Vietnam? What were some of the consequences of internal migration during the U.S. war in Vietnam? These questions and others are answered in free videos by the Choices Program. The 15 videos feature Nu-Anh Tran, Assistant Professor of History and Asian Studies at the University of Connecticut Storrs. The videos cover the Vietnamese nationalist movement, the First Indochina War, internal migration, various perspectives on the war, historical memory, and more.

VietStories: Vietnamese American Oral History Project – UC Irvine

This project actively assembles, preserves, and disseminates the life stories of Vietnamese Americans in Southern California. The project contributes to expanding archives on Vietnamese Americans with the primary goal of capturing first generation stories for students, researchers, and the community. Launched in 2011, Viet Stories is housed in the Department of Asian American Studies in the School of Humanities and collaborates with the UCI Libraries Southeast Asian Archive.

Wing Luke Museum – Online Classroom

Activities, lessons, modules, and mini-documentaries on Asian American history and culture.

9 Ideas for Teaching Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month – ADL

This collection of K-12 classroom blended and online learning solutions for educators and students promotes critical thinking and learning around historical and current events topics through the lens of diversity, bias and social justice.

#StopAAPIHate and the Importance of Studying Difficult Histories – Choices Program, Brown University

In this lesson, students consider why it is important to study “difficult histories” as they work in small groups to examine primary and secondary sources that reveal the long history of anti-AAPI racism in the United States and the equally long history of AAPI anti-racist resistance, community building, and social justice activism. This lesson is designed both to deepen students’ knowledge of AAPI history and social justice activism and introduce a method and rationale for studying “difficult histories.”

Chinese Historical Society of New England

The Chinese Historical Society of New England (CHSNE) is a nonprofit entity incorporated in Massachusetts in 1992. It is the first educational organization dedicated solely to documenting, preserving, and promoting the history and legacy of Chinese immigration in New England.

Cultural Society – Rhode Island

This Rhode Island organization hosts educational and cultural events, posts resources, and posts an Asian American Connections Journal. Current initiatives include the development of a mobile AAPI Museum. One of the Journal articles contains book recommendations.  And the (title) of the Cultural Society, Jeannie Wong Salomon, has a book, Double Minority.  

Providence’s Chinatown – John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage at Brown

See the tab labeled “Mapping our Memories” for an online walking tour version of the 2018 exhibition including photographs and scans of documents. This project remembers, documents, and showcases Providence’s Chinatown and connects this history both to the modern Chinese diaspora in Rhode Island and to all of the state’s residents. This exhibition is part of a larger effort to create an archive of the Chinese American experience in Rhode Island.