Plus, "Activating Curiosity: Oregon Historical Society K–12 Curriculum"

OHS Educator Newsletter April 2021 The March 15 attack in Atlanta that resulted in the deaths of Soon Chung Park, Hyun Jung Grant, Suncha Kim, Yong Ae Yue, Delaina Ashley Yaun, Paul Andre Michels, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, and the hospitalization of Elcias Hernandez Ortiz magnify the rise of anti-Asian racism and xenophobia since the onset of COVID-19 in early March 2020. Early media and public references to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” follow a long history of associating various immigrant populations with diseases to make excuses for racial discrimination and violence. In today’s newsletter, the OHS education department is sharing historical resources on Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in Oregon that help shed light on how anti-Asian violence is a longstanding, often silenced, characteristic of our nation and state, but also highlight the cultural and community factors that have enabled AAPI communities to remain resilient. We hope these resources will support your discussions of these events and histories with your students and colleagues as part of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.  Image Credit: Young performers, 1946., OHS Research Library, OrHi 79048. OHS Resources to Explore The Oregon Encyclopedia  The Oregon Encyclopedia (The OE) is an online resource for information on the state's significant people, places, events, institutions, and biota, including the below entries on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Oregon. Entries often include links to primary documents, with contextual notes, available through the Oregon History Project. Anti-Chinese sentiments developed early in the Northwest and included the Oregon Constitution’s denial of Chinese people enfranchisement and land ownership and violent attacks by white Oregonians. Douglas Lee's "Chinese Americans in Oregon" offers an excellent foundation for understanding this history. "East Indians of Oregon and the Ghadar Party," by Johanna Ogden, traces reasons for and key moments in the unlikely founding in Astoria, Oregon, of the revolutionary movement to oppose British colonial rule in India: the Hindustani Association of the Pacific Coast, better known as the Ghadar Party.   “Hawaiians in the Oregon Country,” by Jean Barman and Bruce McIntyre Watson, is a brief overview of how Indigenous Hawaiians came to be among the earliest outsiders in present-day Oregon. Until the time of the American annexation of the Hawaiian Islands in 1898, over a thousand Indigenous Hawaiians made the crossing to the Pacific Northwest to work on ships, acquire beaver pelts, and labor in other industries. When the United States left the Vietnam War in 1975, thousands of Hmong fled and were resettled in the United States, including Oregon. Sami Scripter's entry “Hmong Immigration” by Sami Scripter describes Hmong immigration, traditions, and experiences. George Katagiri's "Japanese Americans in Oregon" highlights Japanese families, communities, Executive Order 9066, and Japanese concentration camps and incarceration, resettlement, and new generations.  Image Credit: Japanese work camp near Hood River, about 1920., OHS Research Library, OrHi 48921. Oregon Historical Quarterly The Oregon Historical Quarterly (OHQ), a peer-reviewed, public history journal, has been published continuously since 1900 by the Oregon Historical Society. OHQ brings well-researched, well-written history about Oregon and the Pacific Northwest to both scholars and general readers. Below are selected articles that educators can read to learn more about the history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Oregon. Contents and abstracts for recent issues of OHQ can be accessed here.  “Asian Women: Immigration and Citizenship in Oregon” by Peggy Nagae “Curiosity or Cure? Chinese Medicine and American Orientalism in Progressive Era California and Oregon” by Tamara Venit Shelton "Hitting the Trail: Live Displays of Native American, Filipino, and Japanese People at the Portland World’s Fair" by Emily Trafford "'Most Daring Outrage': "Murders at Chinese Massacre Cove, 1887” by R. Gregory Nokes "White Right and Labor Organizing in Oregon’s ‘Hindu’ City" by Johanna Ogden Image Credit: OHS digital no. bb009691 OHS Research Library: Japanese American Oral History Project The Japanese Oral History Project is a series of oral history interviews that preserve the stories of Japanese Americans in Oregon. Loen Dozono of the Japanese American Citizen's League (JACL) collaborated with OHS on this project. They aimed to interview Issei (first generation Japanese Americans) and also interviewed several Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans). The oral histories give firsthand accounts of what life was like for Japanese Americans during and after the period defined by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 of 1942, which began a process of forced removal and incarceration of immigrants and American citizens of Japanese descent.  One story is of Nadyne Yoneko Dozono, who was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1915 but lived in Japan during World War II. After the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States in 1945, she worked with the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, which studied the effects of radiation poisoning among the survivors. Community Spotlight: Minoru Yasui Legacy Project The Minoru Yasui Legacy Project was created to honor and reflect on the contributions of Minoru Yasui in “making the world a better place.” The project culminated in various centennial tribute events in 2016 — the 100th anniversary of his birth — and many projects are ongoing today. Some include the annual celebration of Minoru Yasui Day, including the awards ceremony for the Minoru Yasui Day Essay Contest; distribution of the documentary film, Never Give Up! Minoru Yasui and the Fight for Justice and accompanying educational package; and the preservation of Yasui's jail cell at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon (formerly the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center). In 2015, the Oregon Historical Society was proud to partner with members of the Minoru Yasui Legacy Project and the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center to host Minoru Yasui's Presidential Medal of Freedom in our museum.  "Activating Curiosity: Oregon Historical Society K–12 Curriculum" Sarah Anderson is an educator and author who specializes in place-based education and believes students learn best when they’re given the opportunity to explore primary sources. In this newest post on Dear Oregon, she discusses her recent work writing engaging inquiry-based and object-based curriculum for teachers in grades K–12— including for the Oregon Historical Society. Through that curriculum, OHS provides educational access to its exhibitions, especially during the COVID-19 global pandemic, when social distancing efforts have prevented students from visiting in person. Image Credit: Detail of mural in OHS's Experience Oregon exhibition. Created by The Design Minds. "Finding Common Ground": Oregon History Day Students Update  Congratulations to Alan Zhou and Kyler Wang, students at Sunset High School and Lincoln High School! They are second-prize winners in CSPAN's StudentCam national video documentary competition, for the documentary "Finding Common Ground," about political division and partisanship within the U.S. government, media, and society at-large. In the documentary, we hear from veteran politicians, leading scholars, and Americans experiencing the effects of polarization firsthand. Zhou and Wang have also placed first at the National History Day contest two years in a row for their documentaries on Celilo Falls and Minoru Yasui.  Oregon History Day Workshops for Educators Oregon History Day, an affiliate of the National History Day® program, is a transformative and inspirational project-based curriculum for teachers and students in grades 6–12. In OHS's workshop series, Oregon History Day Coordinator Kristen Pilgrim will show educators how to bring this powerful curriculum to the classroom as well as share the new judging rubric and rule book, highlight compelling student samples, and engage in Q&A. Educators are encouraged to get a jump on the 2021–2022 school year and contest season by attending one of our professional development sessions on the Oregon History Day contest. 1 PDU is available on request, please contact kristen.pilgrim@ohs.org with questions. Upcoming webinars include: Oregon History Day Educator - May Session Tuesday, May 4, 4pm–5:15pm  Register Here Oregon History Day Educator - June Session Monday, June 2, 4pm–5:15pm  Register Here Community Shout-Out: WorldOregon WorldOregon's Culture Boxes are filled with hands-on regalia about the art, culture, and daily life of people from over 100 countries! And now you can also discover the growing menu of Supplementary Online Resources that complement the hands-on content of the physical Culture Box library. WorldOregon's Global Classroom team has developed more than 90 of these fantastic resources—including updated materials on Brazil, China, Germany, Japan, Russia, Tibet, and Vietnam. Explore the Supplementary Digital Resources. You Are A Gift! Your support puts the power of history into everyone’s hands. Your donation helps the Oregon Historical Society bring context and perspective to current events. Together we advance knowledge about those who shaped our present — and we foster a better tomorrow by deepening our understanding of the past. Please help us continue to provide this access to history to all. Renew your membership or become a member, share our content on social media, or make a gift. Thank you!  Oregon Historical Society 1200 SW Park Avenue, Portland OR 97205 503.222.1741    ohs.org Donate Online     Contact Us Share this email: Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™ Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails. View this email online. This email was sent to . To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.

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