Peer Review

Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project

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Reviewed:: Jun 24, 2008 by History

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Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

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Overview:: The purpose of Densho is (1) to preserve the personal testimonies of Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II, (2) to help people understand a particular episode in U.S. history, and (3) to use historical materials to explore principles of democracy, citizenship, tolerance, and justice. The website includes a collection of primary sources, essays, a timeline, a glossary of terms, and a bibliography. It is organized into five sections: causes of incarceration, learning center, archive, other resources, and about Densho. "Causes of Incarceration" consists of a series of essays. The "Archive" holds more than 2000 photographs and documents and more than 500 hours of recorded video in some 240 interviews. In the "Resources" section, one will find a timeline, a glossary, an essay about terminology, links to web resources, and bibliographies. The "Learning Center" includes four units, each of which includes historical information and primary sources. Unit One, "Causes of Incarceration Lesson Plans," includes three lesson plans for students in elementary and secondary school; the plans are designed to meet the state of Washingtons standards in civics. "Sites of Shame" includes an account of one familys internment experience and information about specific detention sites. "In the Shadow of My Country" is a multimedia art exhibition. And the "Civil Rights and Japanese American Incarceration" unit contains five multimedia historical essays and six lessons with 18 classroom activities.
Type of Material:: A collection of primary sources including interviews, photographs, text documents, and paintings. Videos, Lesson Plans, and Essays are also offered.
Recommended Uses:: U.S. History survey. Ethnic Studies. Teaching Research Methods.
Technical Requirements:: Flash! Real Media or QuickTime Broadbank Internet connection
Identify Major Learning Goals:: From the website: "We encourage use of these resources to expand awareness of our country's diverse history, to stimulate critical thinking, to develop ethical decision-making skills, and to help ensure that democratic principles are upheld now and in the future." The individual lesson plans identify goals for those plans.
Target Student Population:: Elementary school through college undergraduate
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:: Need to register to access the archive.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:: This is an excellent web site! "Densho" began as an effort to record the experiences of Japanese Americans who were interned, or unjustly incarcerated, during World War II. While the goals of the web site have expanded, it still especially excels at its original mission. The interviews supplemented with photographs, diary excerpts, quotes, copies of posters, other documents, and background text convey much of the experience of internees -- the racism and discrimination they faced, the harshness of the physical conditions of the detention centers, the tediousness and uncertainty of life in the camps, the efforts to create community and sustain culture within the camps, the financial and emotional impact of internment, and the efforts to seek redress. Roger Shimomuras art exhibition -- "In the Shadow of My Country" -- is particularly compelling. It features his paintings based upon his grandmother's diary and an interview with the author; it is supplemented by historical and personal notes, photographs, and a spare musical score. There is an interesting interplay (both visually and in terms of content) between the personal record (diary) and Shimomura's later representation of it and the photographs and quotes from others. The latter often universalizes the personal experience. The lessons in the teacher resource guide that accompanies the exhibition appropriately focus on interpretation of language and the expression of ideas through art and literature. The guide also includes a chapter from _Nisei Daughter_ by Monica Stone. Another noteworthy feature is the analysis of the politics of language that one can access from the home page. Finally, one should not let the registration requirement discourage you from visiting the archive. It's amazing. It includes not only the interviews Densho has done, but also materials from other institutional and private collections. One can access materials in several ways -- by topic, by name of collection, by source type, by name of individual, or by name of incarceration facility. The screen shows three frames so that the user can keep track of where s/he is in the collection. Interviews are broken into segments so that one can hear -- or read the transcript for -- only that portion of the interview of interest. There's a lot there and it's organized well.
Concerns:: Now to get picky: The web site really does no more than mention the relevant Supreme Court decisions. After reading the excellent, in-depth discussion about the legal implications of answers to particular questions on the loyalty questionnaire, I was surprised by how little was said about _Korematsu_, _Hirabayashi_, and _Endo_. I don't think that a reader would come to understand these cases -- the conflict, the reasoning of the Court, or their legal importance -- from this web site. "Densho" does provide excerpts from the decisions, but doesn't explain what the reader should get from those documents. The reader has to do most of the work of figuring out what these cases were about.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

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Strengths:: This web site offers lots of interesting and diverse classroom activities. It provides clear instructions, appropriate materials for students to use, and even in some cases, grading rubrics. While many of the classroom activities focus on the decisions made about removal of Japanese Americans during World War II and their experiences during this period, a few also ask students to build on their analysis of events more than fifty years ago to analyze events since September 11, 2001. While some might be troubled by this effort to draw upon history to understand events that are still unfolding, I think it's a strength of this web site. First, students will see parallels on their own, so it's logical to incorporate discussion of the relevance of history into the class lessons. Second, the lessons don't impose a political point of view, but are designed to bring out different points of view and to allow students to draw their own conclusions.
Concerns:: Taken all together, the evidence Densho provides shows that the internment of Japanese Americans was unjustified, was based on racism, and was a violation of principles most Americans hold dear. I'm not sure that students are given enough material to hold a reasoned debate about the wisdom of Roosevelt's decision to forcibly remove Japanese Americans or about the "correctness" of the Supreme Court decisions -- issues raised in one lesson plan. There isn't a lot of material that would help students who have to represent Roosevelts position or that of the Supreme Court.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

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Strengths:: Easy to navigate, clear instructions, troubleshooting tips, and for the most part, short download time. Overall, this site is well designed!
Concerns:: (1) The "sign out" button for the Archive seemed more for show than use. It's not easy to get to the button once in the Archive. You have to use the browser's "go" back button or tool. And once I returned to the button, it didn't work. I ended up "signing out" by closing the window. (2) More a comment than a concern -- pages in the "Sites of Shame" section take noticeably longer to download than pages in other sections.

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