Archive Intervention Workshop​

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Due March 18 @ 11:59pm via canvas

Part i. 4 curated objects and item labels

1.​ Chinese Coolies on the Streets of Tien-Tsin, China 1900

a.​ Labor extraction from Chinese people
2.​ How to tell Japs from Chinese 1941
a.​ Japanese cast as bad chinese as good model minority
3.​ Editorial Grist 1963
a.​ Japanese people saying black people need to better themselves in
order to have equal rights
4.​ Asian-American Whiz Kids 1987
a.​ Japanese and Chinese people as model minorities in 1986

Part ii. 6-7 page curatorial statement; citing at least 3 course readings, 2 must
come from after the midterm.

Readings:

1.​ Life Magazine “How to Tell Japs from the Chinese” 1941
2.​ Erika lee
3.​ Ellen D. Wu, “The Color of Success” 1960s

Assignment Overview​
Asian American history is unevenly preserved. Some stories are well documented in
official archives, while others survive only in fragments—through family collections,
community organizations, or scattered local records. What gets saved, cataloged,
and displayed is shaped by institutions, funding priorities, and political power. As a
result, many dimensions of Asian American life remain partial or difficult to access.

For the final project, you will create a small, curated archive that brings focused
attention to a specific dimension of Asian American history. Drawing on real,
existing materials—such as family archives, campus or community records, local
California collections, or established digital archives—you will assemble a set of
items that illuminate a historical thread that interests you.
Your topic should be focused enough that 4 items can meaningfully illuminate it.
Avoid overly broad topics such as “Asian American history” or “racism in America.”
By selecting and interpreting your materials, you will construct a narrative about
that history. Your archive is the method. Your paper is the argument.

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Create a new google doc that includes this worksheet, Save as
lastnamefistname_finalworkshop

PART I | In-Class

i. Area of Curiosity

What dimension of Asian American history are you drawn to right now?

Examples: refugee resettlement in Sacramento; Filipino farm labor; Asian American

student activism at UC Davis; Cold War–era migration; family separation; gendered
labor in immigrant households; etc.

Write 3–4 sentences describing what interests you and why. Do not write a thesis
yet.

-​ I am interested in Asian American model minority/Chinese labor formations

because the process of it changes and is very fluid over time. I am also
interested in gendered labor in immigrant households as the structures of
the family hierarchy interest me. I am also interested in the intersections of
the military industrial complex and sexualized and/or gendered labor.

ii. What Kinds of Materials Might Exist?​

Instead of asking what you want to argue, ask:

If this history exists, what traces would it leave behind?

Check 4–6 types of materials that might exist for your topic:

Examples:

​ Flyers
​ Letters
 ​ Oral histories
​ Photographs
​ Immigration documents
​ News articles
​ Meeting minutes
​ Church bulletins
​ Student newspapers
​ Government records
​ Other:

Now answer:

Which of these might be found in a formal archive?​

- A more formal archive would include meeting minutes, newspapers, government
records, letters, flyers, photographs, immigration documents.

Which might exist in family or community collections?​

- Family records, letters, flyers, photographs, student newspapers, oral histories.

Which might be difficult to locate, and why?

-​ Oral histories since it may not be recorded.

iii. Initial Archival Mapping

Identify possible places you could search:

​ Densho
​ SAADA
​ Calisphere
​ Library of Congress
​ UC Davis Special Collections
​ Local historical societies
​ Family archives
​ Community organizations

Check at least three specific archives or repositories you will look at.

Now reflect:
What does the existence (or absence) of materials in these spaces suggest about
power, preservation, or visibility?

-​ The existence/absence of materials in this space suggests who gets to make

narratives, what is good to preserve, and what can be made visible in history.

iv. Observing Before Arguing​

Choose one type of item you expect to locate.

Consider:

●​ What might this item show about everyday life?

●​ What might it reveal about institutions?
●​ What might it complicate about dominant narratives?
●​ What questions might it raise?

Now write 3–4 sentences beginning with:

-​ If I found a set of items like this, they might reveal what everyday or special
occasions looked like to the eye. It may also reveal what institutions or
regular people chose to show/make visible. It may raise questions about who
took the picture, why, and for what audience. It may complicate dominant
narratives about Asian American histories.

Do not turn this into a polished thesis. Keep it exploratory.

v. Emerging Patterns ​
Imagine you locate four different but related items.

Consider:

●​ What similarities might you expect across them?

●​ What differences might appear?
●​ Would they show continuity or change over time?
●​ Would they show tension between official records and lived experience?
●​ Would they center labor, gender, migration, racialization, resistance, empire,
community formation, or another theme?

Now write a provisional claim beginning with:

 -​ These materials suggest change over time in the racialized frameworks of
Chinese Americans over the course of the U.S empire in extracting labor,
assimilation, who belongs into the U.S., and what it means to be Chinese
American. I think it would center labor, migration, racialization, resistance,
empire, etc.

This is not final. It should feel tentative.

vi. Quick Label Practice (Optional)​

Choose one located item.

Write 5–6 sentences describing:

– What it is​
– What historical context it sits in​
– What questions it raises

Focus on observation and interpretation rather than proving anything.

vii. Reflection​
What feels clearer about your direction?

What is your first concrete research step?

PART II – AFTER YOU LOCATE YOUR ITEMS ​

This section is meant as an additional resource as you work through your project.
While not required, my hope is that by examining these prompts, you will develop
deeper historical thinking and stronger projects overall. I HIGHLY recommend you
work through at least some of these prompts. Complete them on your own once
you have at least 2–3 real items identified.

1.​ Pattern Recognition​

Lay out your items side by side.

Ask:
 ●​ What do they have in common?
●​ What contradictions appear?
●​ What timeline do they trace?
●​ What scale are they working at (family, local, national)?

Write a few sentences identifying patterns you did not anticipate.

From Pattern to Argument​

Now draft a thesis that grows from your materials:

“Taken together, these items show that…”

Make sure the claim arises from what the materials actually reveal.

Guardrails Against Forcing Evidence

Before finalizing your argument, ask:

●​ Am I ignoring something in the materials that complicates my claim?

●​ Do all four items genuinely illuminate this argument?
●​ Am I allowing ambiguity where it exists?

Write 2–3 sentences acknowledging complexity or tension in your archive.

Integrating Course Readings

Once your claim emerges from your materials:

Which course concepts help explain what you’re seeing?​

Which readings give language to patterns you noticed?

List at least 3 readings (2 post-midterm) and briefly note how each helps interpret
your materials.