Join us at the Japanese Cultural and Community Center as we celebrate children’s day! Celebrate what it means to be a kid and do some fun activities with us.
Mark your calendars! AIISF will be at Lincoln Summer Nights. Have fun at Lincoln Square Park on the 2nd Thursday of every month, May through October, 5-8pm. Lincoln Summer Nights is OUR chance to celebrate, connect, stay informed and get involved in our community.
Come celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage with us! There will be performances and other activities showing the richness of the AAPI community.
Del Sol Quartet are back on Angel Island, this time performing a 35 minute meditation from Takuma Itoh’s American Postcards - Picture Brides. 10 dollars to reserve a seat and get entrance to the Detention Barracks Museum.
Join us on Zoom on April 10 for the second event in our ongoing collaborative series with the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation. This time we'll be discussing food and dining experiences at the Ellis Island and Angel Island immigration stations.
Del Sol Quartet are back on Angel Island, this time performing a 35 minute meditation from Huang Ruo’s A Dust in Time. Free with admission to the Detention Barracks Museum.
Are you the descendant of a Japanese American from Hawai’i who was detained on Angel Island during WWII?
We want to hear your story! How did WWII incarceration affect your family? How does it affect you today? What stories did you hear growing up? What questions do you have?
Join us at a storytelling workshop on Sunday, February 25 at Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii Ballroom at 2454 South Beretania Street, Honolulu, HI 96826.
The workshop will run from 10 am to 4 pm. Lunch is included.
Please feel free to contact us by email at info@aiisf.org if you have questions.
If you think your ancestor may have been sent to Angel Island but are not sure, we can check the records for you.
Come listen to a story about Angel Island at the Oakland Main Library.
AIISF is excited to present a joint performance from the Del Sol Quartet and the Last Hoisan Poets, on Saturday, December 2nd in the Detention Barracks Museum at the Immigration Station.
Looking Glass and the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) have teamed up to bring you this day of exploring Angel Island and Touring the Immigration Station with AIISF Program Manager, Danielle Wetmore.
Chinese Pioneers: Power and Politics in Exclusion Era Photographs presents a visual history of the social, political, and judicial disenfranchisement of Chinese Californians — as well as moments of Chinese agency and resilience — in the decades before and after the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act.
Thursday, June 29, 2023 • 3 pm (Pacific) / 6 pm (Eastern)
Join us for an online watch party of our four latest videos in our API Animated Histories series.
These four videos will highlight aspects of Asian American history; Native Hawaiian and Pacific Island history; communities coming together; and current day stereotypes. Following the four videos, there will be opportunity to engage in brief discussions and reflections with other participants.
Prior to the event, we will send an email containing a Zoom link.. This link will allow you to access the program on May 25th. For questions, email programs@aiisf.org.
Join us for two watch parties of our newly-created animated short videos about Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander history. Celebrate APA Heritage Month by learning more about historic figures and events that are unfortunately not always covered in US history classes.
A comprehensive and spirited exploration of Asian American history—its movements, cultures, and key figures—beautifully illustrated and compellingly told for readers of all ages.
Co-authors Cathy Linh Che and Kyle Lucia Wu take us on a journey through stories of celebration and resistance: the Third World Liberation Front, the Muslim Ban, Japanese American incarceration camps, Padma Lakshmi, Rashida Tlaib, Sunisa Lee, and more. It is a history of struggle but also one of great triumph, brought to life with colorful and dynamic illustrations by Kavita Ramchandran.
Written by the directors of Kundiman—an organization dedicated to nurturing Asian American writers—An Asian American A to Z is a book for children of all backgrounds and a vital resource for tomorrow's organizers. Asian American identity formation is expansive yet under-taught, and this book is a necessary intervention that will ground readers in joy, history, and solidarity.
A Zoom link will appear after registering for our AUthor Spotlight. This link will allow you to access the program on May 10th. For questions, email programs@aiisf.org.
SATURDAY APRIL 22nd! Join us to hear stories related to finding a sense of place and belonging (or not) in a home.
Join AIISF as well as best-in-class story coaches Dawn and Noilyn to help you find, shape, and rehearse a story. Together we can create a sense of belonging and community through our shared voices and humanity.
You may want to preserve your story for your kids and grandkids. You may be motivated to create a polished and concise story to fight for immigrant rights. Perhaps you are looking for a moment of connection with others who may have experiences like yours. For these reasons and more, join us at the Angel Island Immigration Station for a free one-day workshop on Sunday, April 16th.
After this workshop, there will be an opportunity to share your stories in person and/or virtually. Transportation to Angel Island, lunch, and a tour of the Immigration Station will be included in the event.
Jessica Lander is an award-winning teacher, writer, and author. She teaches history and civics to recent immigrant students in a Massachusetts public high school and has won numerous awards for her teaching, including being named a Top 50 Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize in 2021, presented by the Varkey Foundation and being named a Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Finalist in 2022, presented by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Jessica writes frequently about education policy and teaching. She is the author of Making Americans: Stories of Historic Struggles, New Ideas, and Inspiration in Immigrant Education, a co-author of Powerful Partnerships: A Teacher’s Guide to Engaging Families for Student Success and the author of Driving Backwards.
Setting out from her classroom, Jessica Lander takes the reader on a powerful and urgent journey—told through captivating stories of the past, the present, and the personal—to understand what it takes for immigrant students to become Americans.
She brings to life historic struggles to improve immigrant education—the Nebraska teacher arrested for teaching an eleven-year-old boy in German who took his case to the Supreme Court; the California families who overturned school segregation for Mexican-American children; and the Texas families who risked deportation to establish the right for undocumented children to attend public schools.
She visits innovative classrooms across the country—a school for refugee girls in Georgia; five schools in Aurora, Colorado that created a community-wide network of organizations and people to support newcomer children; and a North Carolina district of more than 100 schools who re-thought how they teach their immigrant-origin students.
She shares inspiring stories of her own students' immigrant journeys and how they created their own American identities—a boy who escaped Baghdad and found a home in his school’s ROTC program, the daughter of Cambodian genocide survivors who dreamed of becoming a computer scientist, and an orphan boy who escaped violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and created a new community here.
Together, the stories and insights chart a course for educators and policymakers—and for everyone who cares about America’s future.
Making Americans is a landmark book, providing a clear vision of how schools can help nurture a sense of belonging in newcomers, with benefits for all students. It is a catalyst for communities across America to reimagine immigrant education.
Indie Unbound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780807006658
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807006653?tag=bpress-20
A Zoom link will be sent to the email you provided ahead of the event. For questions, email programs@aiisf.org.
Poets Chun Yu and Michael Warr co-founders of Two Languages/One Community
Poets Chun Yu and Michael Warr co-founded Two Languages/One Community to exchange culture and common experiences between African Americans and Chinese Americans using poetry and translation. The poets stand in solidarity with both communities in ensuring safety and peace against all forms of violence, hatred, and discrimination.
You are invited to experience their poems and stories in English and Chinese accompanied by projected images of text and photographs at the Angel Island Immigration Station.
Our stories are powerful. So are our voices.
We are excited to present a new virtual storyshare event called Immigrant Voices LIVE! This storyshare event builds upon the 250+ oral histories AIISF has curated over the past decade through its Immigrant Voices project. These histories represent the journeys of Angel Island immigrants and those who have immigrated more recently.
We've invited a few members of our national community to share personal stories of their experiences as an immigrant or as someone of immigrant heritage—what has made them feel unwelcome or what has made them feel like they belong.
A Zoom link will be sent to the email you provided ahead of the event. For questions, email programs@aiisf.org.
We are excited to share that AIISF is sponsoring a Free Admission Day to the Detention Barracks Museum.
Note that this does not include the cost of ferry tickets, shuttle service, or other costs.
AIISF staff will also be giving out free hot chocolate inside the former hospital building - now called the Angel Island Immigration Museum (which is always free to the public).
Join us for a concert presentation of ILLEGAL, a new musical created and performed by Skyler Chin, co-composer by Sita Sunil, and featuring Catherine Gloria. The show is inspired by family secrets and poetry etched into the walls of Angel Island during Chinese Exclusion. With a professional AAPI cast, colorful characters, rap, song, comedy, and drama, ILLEGAL entertains as it shines a light on a dark chapter in history and on the fighting spirit of those who dared to become American.
The Angel Island Immigration Museum is hosting a new exhibit from the National Japanese American Historical Society called The Enemy Alien Files: Hidden Stories of World War II. Admission to the Angel Island Immigration Museum is FREE.
About the exhibit
This groundbreaking exhibition offers a comparative and multicultural presentation of the lesser-known stories of 31,000 German, Italian, and Japanese immigrant residents—and US citizens—who were discriminatingly deemed "enemy aliens" during World War II.
Through stunning photographs, oral histories, and narratives, the exhibit examines the “enemy alien” experience of forced removal, internment, hostage exchange, and post-war forced separation that impacted families and communities across two continents.
It underscores the struggle for government accountability and the right to redress and reparations for violations of civil and human rights.
Enemy Alien Files was curated by the Enemy Aliens Consortium, a partnership of the National Japanese American Historical Society, Japanese Peruvian Oral History Project, Italian American Studies Association / Western Regional Chapter, and German American Internee Coalition.
The exhibit is partly funded by the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program.
Join us on Thursday, September 29, from 5 - 6:30 pm PST for a virtual watch party of three animated shorts. The videos will highlight some of the experiences of immigrants detained at Angel Island. We will be hosting facilitated small-group discussions after watching the videos.
Animated Histories of Angel Island is partly funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Asian Pacific Fund, and the Japanese American Confinement Sites Grant Program of the National Parks Service.
SPACE IS LIMITED! CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
Virtual reading of Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist with author Julie Leung!
On Sunday, August 14, author Julie Leung will be doing a read-aloud of her book—Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant, and Artist, which was awarded the Asian/Pacific American Award for Best Picture Book by the American Library Association. This is a family event open to all members of your family to listen, participate, and learn together. While the event will benefit learners of all ages, it is most well suited to those between the ages of 7 and 11 years old.
10:00 am to 10:45 am PT (virtual program)
Before he became an artist named Tyrus Wong, he was a boy named Wong Geng Yeo. He traveled across a vast ocean from China to America with only a suitcase and a few papers. Not papers for drawing–which he loved to do–but immigration papers to start a new life. Once in America, Tyrus seized every opportunity to make art, eventually enrolling at an art institute in Los Angeles. Working as a janitor at night, his mop twirled like a paintbrush in his hands. Eventually, he was given the opportunity of a lifetime–and using sparse brushstrokes and soft watercolors, Tyrus created the iconic backgrounds of Bambi.
This program comes to you with no fee, but a suggested donation of $10. Please click the blue “Donate Now” button to contribute to AIISF and support programs like these.
After closing its doors 75 years ago, the former immigration hospital is reopening as the new Angel Island Immigration Museum (AIIM)! We invite you to join us as we mark this occasion with a free virtual presentation and ribbon-cutting ceremony.
11:00 am to 11:45 am PST (virtual program)
12:00 pm PST (AIIM opens to the public)
2021 Immigrant Heritage Award
Angel Island Immigration Station Historical Advisory Committee (AIISHAC)
2021 Spirit of Angel Island Award
Ranger Alexander Weiss (posthumously)
Due to the rise of COVID-19, we will be broadcasting this event online in lieu of inviting large groups to attend the ceremony in person. If you plan to visit the museum, please note that trams, bike rentals, shuttles, and the Angel Island Café are unavailable. They will resume service on February 5, 2022 (weather permitting). For guests who wish to visit the AIIM, we encourage you to plan your trip ahead of time by visiting our website or contacting us with questions.
Focus Group
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
5:30 pm - 6:30 pm Pacific
Register here
We’ll be holding the first of a series of focus groups to collect community input on some important renovations to the outdoor terraces on the site.
During the last major renovation in 2009, outdoor terraces were created that outlined the structural footprint of the former Administration Building that burned down in 1940. While the original master plan called for the terraces to be paved over, these areas were covered instead with decomposed granite due to budget considerations. These small rocks, however, are damaging the Detention Barrack Museum’s stairwell and floors.
AIISF is partnering with Angel Island State Park on this new Pathways to Immigration project which will pave over these 3 terraces. This will also provide new opportunities for exhibit panels and for families to have their names recognized on the site.
Join us as we welcome author Pornsak Pichetshote for a discussion about his work on the new comic, THE GOOD ASIAN.
We want to hear from you! This is your chance to help shape the future of the Angel Island Immigration Station.
Join us as we welcome author Chris Baron for a discussion about his new book, The Magical Imperfect!
