Race:

Asian American

Ruth Asawa (1926–2013)
Ruth Asawa, an internationally acclaimed artist and advocate for arts education, gained renown for her distinc...
Chinese
The introduction of the Chinese to Arkansas can be traced back to their roots as a sojourners’ society—men...
Kai Coggin (1980–)
Kai Coggin is a queer, Filipina American poet, author, educator, activist, and Certified Arkansas Master Natur...
Hindus
An estimated 15,000 Hindus were living in Arkansas by the first decades of the twenty-first century. This smal...
Hmong
The Hmong are an ethnic group from Southeast Asia, and their presence in Arkansas stems from the evacuation of...
Indochinese Resettlement Program
aka: Operation New Life
In 1975, the state of Arkansas was tapped by the federal government...
Japanese American Relocation Camps
After Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, and America’s subsequent decla...
Jerome Relocation Center
The Japanese American relocation site at Jerome (in Drew County and partially in Chicot County) was listed on ...
Theodore Shigeru (Ted) Kanamine (1929–2023)
A native of California, Theodore Shigeru (Ted) Kanamine spent part of his childhood at the Jerome Relocation C...
Yuri Kochiyama (1921–2014)
Yuri Kochiyama, the daughter of Japanese immigrants, was incarcerated during World War II at the Jerome Reloca...
Paul Kazuo Kuroda (1917–2001)
Paul Kazuo Kuroda, professor of chemistry at the University of Arkansas (UA) in Fayetteville (Washington Count...
Ryan Kurosaki (1952–)
Ryan Yoshimoto Kurosaki, the first American of Japanese descent to play in the major leagues, is a former prof...
Haeng Ung Lee (1936–2000)
Haeng Ung Lee was the founder of the American Taekwondo Association (which later became ATA Martial Arts), hea...
Marshallese
aka: Marshall Islanders
Marshallese have been migrating from their remote and beautiful Nor...
Ved Mehta (1934–2021)
Ved Mehta, a prolific Indian American writer who is best known for his autobiographical works and long tenure ...
Minari
Filmed in Oklahoma but set in Arkansas, the 2020 movie Minari tells the story of a Korean family who moved fro...
Rohwer Relocation Center
The Rohwer Relocation Center in Desha County was one of two World War II–era incarceration camps built in th...
Nami Shingu (1918–2017)
Nami Shingu, an American citizen born of Japanese parents, arrived in Arkansas as an internee in a World War I...
Star of India
Star of India, an award-winning restaurant in western Little Rock (Pulaski County), has become a renowned part...
Henry Yuzuru Sugimoto (1900–1990)
Henry Yuzuru Sugimoto was a noted artist whose paintings chronicled the immigrant experience, including the ti...
George Hosato Takei (1937–)
George Hosato Takei gained international fame as Lieutenant Sulu in the original Star Trek television series a...
World War II Japanese American Internment Museum
During World War II, Arkansas was the site of two Japanese American internment camps. Jerome Relocation Center...
Longhua Xu (1954–)
Longhua Xu of Hot Springs (Garland County) is a native of China who came to Arkansas in 1990, becoming a leadi...