Inspired by the research in my first book, I have been collecting sources about the amazing and largely forgotten stories of Japanese immigrant farmers in the Long Star State for years and hoped to make these stories available to the general public. Funded by Rice’s Fondren Fellows program, I managed to accomplish this mission by working with two Rice undergraduates, Hoang Nguyen and Loïc Duggal.  Through a one-year collaborative research and mentorship, we have created this digital exhibition, “History of Japanese Farmers in Texas,” which is now a permanent exhibition at the Houston Asian American Archive.

This digital humanities project presents the amazing yet less-known stories of the earliest Japanese immigrants in Texas. They came to Texas as immigrant farmers at the beginning of the twentieth century to pursue personal success on the one hand and to escape the rampant racism against Asian immigrants on the U.S. West Coast on the other. By starting farms along the Gulf of Mexico and cultivating rice, vegetables, and fruits, they contributed to agricultural development in Texas as well as fought racial prejudice in the state.

This digital exhibition won the 2024 Trailblazer Award from the Texas Digital Library. More information of this project can be found here, reported by Rice News:

Japanese migrants’ experiences in Texas celebrated in award-winning exhibit