Asian Americans in Washington State
A History Bursting With Telling: Asian Americans in Washington State A Curriculum Project for Washington Schools Developed by Matthew W. Klingle Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest University of Washington Department of History Table of Contents I. Introduction A. Migration: Moving West to East B. Labor: Building New Lives in New Lands C. Community: From Segregation, Identity D. Conclusion II. Related Materials: Outside the Classroom III. Classroom Activities IV. Timeline: Asian Americans in Washington State History V. Sources, Bibliography, and Concordance VI. General Topical Index of Materials I. Introduction One story of Washington state is a story of immigration, but it is not the simple tale of assimilation or acculturation. Immigrants brought pieces of culture from their native lands to Washington state, where they melded them with pieces taken from American culture. Immigrants did not remain unchanged or melt into a common society, however. Instead, Washington is a mosaic made of different peoples coming together to create new lives in a new land. The Asian American experience is part of this mosaic. The documents that accompany this essay demonstrate how Chinese, Japanese, and Filipinos came to Washington, struggled against discrimination, labored to earn their living, and created distinctive cultures and identities. These documents chronicle, in a small way, how some Asian immigrants became Asian Americans. "Asian American" is, by necessity, a broad term that lumps different peoples together. Because of space restrictions, this project focuses on Chinese, Japanese, and Filipino Americans, the three largest and oldest groups in Washington. Other groups, notably immigrants from Korea, the Pacific Islands, and Southeast Asia, receive limited attention here.
[Show full text]