Asian American Resources
Books Lesson Plans Educator Resources
Books
Citizen 13660
by Mine Okubo
Ages: Middle & High School
Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese American Family
by Yoshiko Uchida
Ages: Middle & High School
Journey to Topaz
by Yoshiko Uchida (Author), Donald Carrick (Illustrator)
Ages: Middle & High School
Journey Home
by Yoshiko Uchida (Author), Charles Robinson (Illustrator)
Ages: Middle & High School
West: A Translation
by Paisley Rekdal, Utah's Poet Laureate 2017-2022
A poetry collection with videos that explores the transcontinental railroad workers’ stories and the cultural meaning of the railroad in America.
Ages: High School
When the Akimotos went to War
by Matthew Elms
Ages: Middle & High School
Lesson Plans
Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project Lessons
SPICE has created four lessons for high school audiences that draw upon research and findings from the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project. Teachers may deliver all four modules in the order listed below, or may deliver any one lesson as a stand-alone unit.
Chinese Workers on the Transcontinental Railroad 7th grade lesson
Chinese workers made a significant contribution to the construction of the first transcontinental railroad during the 1860s. Historians estimate 12,000 Chinese immigrants worked for the Central Pacific Railroad, blasting tunnels and laying track from Sacramento, through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and into Utah. This lesson draws on the science of archaeology, focusing on Chinese material culture to explore the lives of these workers.
Educator Resources
Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Oral Histories
SPICE conducted oral history interviews with 40+ descendants of Chinese who participated in building the CPRR as well as several other significant individuals. These interviews range from 5 to 80 minutes and have been fully transcribed for further study and analysis.
Japanese Internment in Utah
Browse primary source sets for important pieces of history regarding Japanese internment.
Minidoka Education
Minidoka National Historic Site in Jerome, ID shares the stories of the 13,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated in the region during World War II. The site also holds lessons on civil and constitutional rights, racism and the fragility of democracy in times of crisis.
Topaz Museum
The Topaz Museum in Delta, Utah aims to preserve the nearby Topaz incarceration site and its World War II history. It also seeks to interpret the impact of Topaz on the people who were detained there and the Millard County community.