Unit Overview: Artist Estelle Ishigo, the European American wife of a Japanese American, was among the American citizens forced out of California during World War II. Ishigo and her husband, Arthur, were first sent to Pomona Assembly Center and later to Heart Mountain Relocation Center, in a remote area of Wyoming. There, Estelle Ishigo continued her work as a painter. This unit focuses on Ishigo's artwork, which provides a rare inside look at life in these camps. Students use primary sources to learn how internees lived and made a home under incredibly constrained circumstances.
This lesson plan was originally created at the UCLA Institute on Primary Resources.