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Asian American Studies

A guide to print and electronic resources in Princeton University Library.

Digital Sources

Asian American Drama  

Full text of plays written by over forty playwrights, and detailed information about productions, theaters, production companies, and other emphemera related to the plays.

 

The Chinese in California, 1850-1925

Illustrates nineteenth and early twentieth century Chinese immigration to California through about 8,000 images and pages of primary source materials. Included are photographs, original art, cartoons and other illustrations; letters, excerpts from diaries, business records, and legal documents; as well as pamphlets, broadsides, speeches, sheet music, and other printed matter. These documents describe the experiences of Chinese immigrants in California, including the nature of inter-ethnic tensions. They also document the specific contributions of Chinese immigrants to commerce and business, architecture and art, agriculture and other industries, and cultural and social life in California. Chinatown in San Francisco receives special treatment as the oldest and largest community of Chinese in the United States. Also included is documentation of smaller Chinese communities throughout California, as well as material reflecting on the experiences of individuals. Although necessarily selective, such a large body of materials presents a full spectrum of representation and opinion. The materials in this online compilation are drawn from collections at The Bancroft Library, University of California Berkeley; The Ethnic Studies Library, University of California Berkeley; and The California Historical Society, San Francisco.   Courtesy of the Library of Congress, American Memory Project.

Chinese Immigration and the Transcontinental Railroad

Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project  Densho's mission is to preserve the testimonies of Japanese Americans who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II before their memories are extinguished. We offer these irreplaceable firsthand accounts, coupled with historical images and teacher resources, to explore principles of democracy and promote equal justice for all.

Experiencing War: Asian Pacific Americans: Going for Broke

These eight stories are from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq, with special emphasis on the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the “Go for Broke” outfit of Japanese-Americans who fought valiantly in Europe during World War II. 

Japanese American Relocation Collection

This collection of over 200 photographs from the Hearst collection documents the relocation of Japanese Americans in California during World War II. Courtesy of the University of Southern California Digital Library.

Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives  JARDA is a digital "thematic collection" within the California Digital Library's Online Archive of California documenting the experience of Japanese Americans in World War II internment camps.

Korean American Digital Archive

The Korean American Digital Archive brings more than 13,000 pages of documents, over 1,900 photographs, and about 180 sound files together in one searchable collection that documents the Korean American community during the period of resistance to Japanese rule in Korea and reveal the organizational and private experience of Koreans in America between 1903 and 1965.

Japanese American Relocation Collection Research Guide

From 1941 to 1946, Occidental College President Remsen DuBois Bird and College Librarian Elizabeth McCloy made it their mission to preserve articles, newspapers, pamphlets, and other items related to the forced internment of persons of Japanese ancestry along the West Coast.  The online website offers an overview of the collection, including a comprehensive research guide, links to selected resources, and a representative selection from the collection.

SEAAdoc: Documenting the Southeast Asian American Experience

Based at UC Irvine, SEAAdoc focuses on post-1975 refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and the communities they have developed in the United States. It contains 1,500 visual images and 4,000 pages of searchable text.

South Asian American Digital Archive

SAADA is the only independent non-profit organization working to document, preserve and provide access to the rich history of South Asians in the United States. SAADA reflects the vast range of experiences of those in the United States who trace their heritage to Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the many South Asian diaspora communities across the globe.

University of Hawaii. Center for Oral History 

COH established in 1976 by the Hawaii State Legislature. COH preserves the recollections of Hawaiis people through oral interviews and disseminates oral history transcripts to researchers, students, and the general community.

Veteran’s Stories: Struggles for Participation

Veterans tell their stories through interviews, memoirs, and photographs. Courtesy of the Library of Congress

Microfilm Collections

The internment of Japanese Americans: Records of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library. Woodbridge, CT: Primary Source Media, 2008.  6 reels

MICROFILM 12389 Guide to accompany microfilm: (FilmB) D769.8.A6 I57 2009

Japanese Camp Papers.  Washington: Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, [197-?].  22 reels Contains 50 titles of newspapers published by the internees of the relocation camps during World War II. 

MICROFILM 03168   Guide: Contents of the entire collection listed at the head of each reel.

Papers of the U.S. Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, edited by Randolph Boehm.  Frederick, Md. : University Publications of America, c1984

MICROFILM 01885   Guide to accompany microfilm: (FilmB) D769.8.A6 L47

Records of the War Relocation Authority, 1942-1946: Field Basic Documentation Located at the National Archives, Washington, D.C.  Alexandria, Va. : Chadwyck-Healey, 1991.  115 reels

The records of the various relocation camps established in the United States to house Japanese Americans during World War II. The records document the administration of the camps and the day-to-day life of the inmates. Information for the following camps is included: Assembly Centers, Central Utah, Colorado River, Gila River, Granada, Heart Mountain, Jerome, Manzanar, Minidoka, Rohwer, and Tule Lake. These archives include a great deal of printed material including camp newspapers and other publications emanating from the camp inmates.  The Field Basic Documentation section includes material concerning the day-to-day running of the camps. The guide is organized by relocation center, reel number, box number, and folder name.

MICROFILM 12169   Guide to accompany microfilm: (FilmB) D769.8.A6 U52 1993