After the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japan during World War II, anti-Japanese paranoia increased in many parts of the United States. Many persons of Japanese decent, even those who were American citizens, were suspected of loyalty to Japan. In response to this perceived security risk, in 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which authorized the internment of thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry and resident aliens from Japan.

This lesson is intended to be used as an extension to the study of the Holocaust in English-Language Arts. Students should have some prior knowledge of World War II, Nazi propaganda and the Jewish experience in concentration camps. 

This collection was created in conjunction with the Learning to Look Summer Teacher Institute at the National Portrait Gallery (2019). #NPGTEACH