Educator Guide for Righting a Wrong: Japanese Americans and World War II

Grade Range: 9-12
Resource Type(s): Primary Sources, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted: 11/7/2019

February 2017 marked the 75th anniversary of Executive Order 9066, a document that President Roosevelt signed in 1942, two months after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. The order resulted in the imprisonment of 75,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry and 45,000 Japanese nationals in prison camps across the country, many being relocated far from home. Some 40 years later, the U.S. Congress formally recognized that the rights of the Japanese American community had been violated and President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, providing an apology and restitution to the living Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II.

This free resource includes eight posters and an educators' guide, that can be used to spark an inquiry-based activity in your classroom. To receive the posters, submit a request through the Smithsonian Institution's Traveling Exhibition Service

The exhibition explores this history through the Executive Order 9066 document on loan from the National Archives; original artwork by Roger Shimomura, who spent several years in the Minidoka Camp in Idaho; historic images; and objects.

 


National Standards

United States History Standards (Grades 5-12)

Historical Thinking Standards (Grades 5-12)

Common Core State Standards (Grades K-12)

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (Grades 9-12)