Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project

The internment of Japanese Americans during World War II remains a recent wound in the history of the United States, and this site's resources offer the opportunity to forge meaningful connections between understandings of this event in our recent past and more contemporary social and political issues.

This website presents 500 hours of video interviews and approximately 8,300 images, providing first-hand accounts of Japanese Americans unfairly interned during World War II and offering a way for teachers and researchers to humanize the events of this important topic. Other primary sources include newspaper accounts, government orders, and historical photographs. In addition to these archival resources, Densho provides extensive background information and detailed multidisciplinary curricula that use the accounts of individuals to explore principles of democracy and to encourage tolerance and justice in situations when citizens are confused with enemies. For example, the curriculum entitled"Civil Rights and Japanese American Internment" includes five multimedia readings and six lessons with 17 classroom activities. A terminology list and glossary, a timeline, as well as web, printed, and video sources, provide interested viewers with further avenues for exploring the Japanese American experience and the role of racism in the decision for mass incarceration.

Read a more in-depth review written by Allan W. Austin of College Misericordia by clicking here.

Or, explore other website reviews at historymatters.gmu.edu.