Social Sciences

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Activist on the Frontier: Japanese Incarceration Camps

Frontiers can be imagined spaces that changed due to war, displacement, migration, settlement, or treaties. The words used to describe this
movement vary depending on one’s perspective: progress,tragedy, opportunity, isolation. An example of this is Japanese and Japanese American populations during WWII, after the 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor. On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066, which authorized the evacuation of people with Japanese ancestry from the West Coast to military zones in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. During their incarceration, adults within the internment camps were questioned on their loyalty to America. One question, is whether they would be willing to serve in the U.S. forces. Many said no. This led to them being accused of being disloyal for their act of peaceful protest over their wrongful imprisonment.

For more information on this topic…

• Library of Congress
  • Japanese-American Internment Camp Newspapers, 1942 to 1946 
• California State University Japanese American Digitization Project
  • CSUJAD
• Gale Global Issues in Context
  • Search “Japanese American Internment, 1942-1945” or try another search term.
  • Gale Global Issues in Context

Science in Extreme Frontiers: Films of Polar Expeditions

With much of the planet well-documented, nineteenth century explorers searching for fame and glory turned their attention to a new frontier: the inhospitable polar regions. It was of major interest to the public, who followed these stories. In the early twentieth century, the North and South Pole had been reached. But, there was a new subject of exploration now. The science of extreme environments. This became even more valuable during the Cold War (1947-1989), when the U.S. sent the Navy on several expeditions to establish scientific stations in the Antarctic. Today, there still remains footage from these expeditions by U.S. government, much of which is still available to view today.

• DOCSTeach
  • Select National History Day, then find “Polar Expeditions”
  • DOCSTeach 
• National Archives Catalog
  • Search “Polar Expeditions” or try another search term.
  • National Archives
• Encyclopedia Britannica (Elementary, Middle, and High)
  • Search “Polar Expeditions” or try another search term.
  • Encyclopedia Britannica

The Black-Owned Barber Shop: Using One Family’s Story to Explore Frontiers in History

One frontier encountered by the entire U.S. was the aftermath of slavery’s abolition. Millions of African Americans found themselves able—at least in theory—to control the value and type of their labor. They faced a country deeply divided and, in many places—both North and South—unwilling to permit the influx of paid Black labor nor the establishment of Black-owned businesses. In 1884, Levi Garland Nelson established a new frontier in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, when he founded Nelson’s Barber Shop. While they found success in their chosen field, African American barbers still faced new frontiers that were difficult to navigate. Barbers who opened a new shop needed to choose whether they would serve Black or white customers. While white people accepted, and in some cases even preferred a Black-owned shop, they did not find it tolerable to be served in the same shop as Black people.

• National Museum of American History “Making Waves: Beauty Salons and the Black Freedom Struggle”
  • National Museum of American History  
• Chicago History Museum “The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters”
  • Chicago History Museum
• JSTOR
  • Search “Black-Owned Barber Shop” or try other search terms.
  • JSTOR