Album Description

Our Historic New Orleans Collection recently opened an exhibit, "Making It Home: from Vietnam to New Orleans in remembrance of the 50 year anniversary of the Fall of Saigon (on April 30, 1975). 

I introduced the topic to my third and fourth students by using this photograph.

Vietnamese refugees traveling by bus from Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, to New Orleans on December 16, 1975. 

We used the LOC's Observe, Reflect, and Question method, and, after they learned more about the photos, I was really touched that several students commented that many of the people in the photo were "happy...because even though they were leaving their home, they were together and knew they were going to somewhere safe."  I also paired this lesson with the nonfiction picture book, Adrift at Sea: A Vietnamese Boy's Story of Survival by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch with Tuan Ho. 

The HNOC also sponsored an essay contest that focused on forced migrations—past, present, or imagined.  Students were asked to focus on their own family stories, current events, and/or historical knowledge.   One of my students wrote a really touching piece about her family.  She received Honorable Mention in the 3rd-5th grade category.  You can read the other winning essays here.

Inspired by the HNOC and Making It Home, I wanted to start an album about the Vietnamese in New Orleans.