1. Have students partner up and as quickly as possible write down what comes to mind when they hear the word “protest.” Ask students, “What images come to mind? What words or phrases do you associate with protest? What emotions do you think are connected to protests? What causes have led people to protest?” Explain that you aren’t looking for specific struggles they can remember, though they can cite them if they like, but for tactics used and the characteristics of protests. You can give students suggestions of tactics such as using signs and banners to display messages, physically occupying spaces for a period of time, writing letters, or organizing using social messaging such as Facebook or Twitter. You might cite recent protests in Egypt as an example of use of social media.

2.After the students have a chance to brainstorm with their partners, ask them to share what they have discussed with the clas

3. Ask students if those images/tactics might be the same ones used 10 years ago? 50 years ago? If many of the tactics are similar, ask students to go back to their mental images and consider: Would everyone in the group agree with each other? Explain that often when history is presented it seems as if movements for social change are linear and clear, but actually they are much more complex than that. Explain that students will be focusing on a single community—Philadelphia’s Chinatown—and its struggles to survive as a community.

4. In preparation for the next part of thes lesson, students will need a basic understanding of Chinatown’s history. Teachers can use the Balch Institute exhibit: The Gold Mountain: Building Philadelphia’s Chinatown as an overview. Teachers may also assign the article by Kathryn E. Wilson, “From Bachelor Enclave to Urban Village: The Evolution of Early Chinatown” as homework in preparation for the exhibit analysis.

5. Ask students how many of them pictured Asian Americans when they pictured people protesting? Explain that they are going to study a series of protests connected to Philadelphia’s Chinatown. Ask students to brainstorm what they know about Philadelphia’s Chinatown. What can be seen there? Have they ever visited?

6. There are five sections in the online exhibit. Break students into small groups and assign each group a section to review and conduct the photographic analysis using the Analyzing Photographs Graphic Organizer. The sections are:
• “Bachelor” Society
• Chinatown and World War II: Historical Turning Point
• Family and Community Life in Chinatown, 1930s–1980s
• Activism and the “Save Chinatown” Movement
• Chinatown Today and Tomorrow

7. Have student groups identify and note details in the section of the exhibit they have been assigned. Have them consider the questions on the Graphic Organizer as they review the exhibit. Ask each group to pick one image from the section it is reviewing and fill in the organizer. Encourage students to consider the details carefully and in depth. For example: people/person; male/female; wearing; doing; holding; facial expression; scene; event; action; geography; architecture.

8. After completing all of the steps, have each group report about the section it has viewed. What information did the group get from the section? Ask students to share what surprised them about what they learned.