Our Stories
An Introduction to South Asian America
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Our Stories Companion Website
Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Ch. 5 Ch. 6 Ch. 7 Ch. 8 Ch. 9 Ch. 10
Chapter 2: Forging Lives in Uncertain Times (1923–1965)

Explore this chapter:
• Bhagat Singh Thind
• Denaturalization
• Kala Bagai
• Rishi Singh Grewal
• "Turbans Do Things for You"
• Dalip Singh Saund
• The Civil Rights Movement

Bhagat Singh Thind
By Kritika Agarwal
Page In the book For further exploration
53 "Thind and Caste" Inset Read the rest of "The Ghadr Party and the Indian Caste System in Thind" in Race, Nation, and Refuge: The Rhetoric of Race in Asian American Citizenship Cases.
55 See the image at Mozumdar.org
56 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
Denaturalization
By Kritika Agarwal
Page In the book For further exploration
59 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
60 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
62 "Denaturalization and Operation Janus" Inset Read the rest of "Trump, 'Shitholes,' and the Nature of 'Us'" for the New Yorker, by Masha Gessen.
63 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
Kala Bagai
By Kritika Agarwal
Page In the book For further exploration
66 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
67 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
68 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
68 "Vaishno Das Bagai's Last Letter" Inset TRIGGER WARNING: This archival item describes instances of self-harm and suicide.
Read the rest of Vaishno Das Bagai's Letter in SAADA's archival collections.
69 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
69 "An Oral History Interview with Rani Bagai" Inset Discover the rest of Rani Bagai's oral history interview in SAADA's archival collections.
70 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
"Turbans Do Things for You"
By Meenasarani Linde Murugan
Page In the book For further exploration
76 See the image at hannibal.lib.mo.us
78 "Chandra Gooneratne" Inset Read more from Manan Desai's "The 'Tan Stranger' from Ceylon" in TIDES.
78 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
Dalip Singh Saund
By Samip Mallick
Page In the book For further exploration
80 See the image in SAADA's archival collections.
81 "Pramila Jayapal" Inset Discover the rest of Pramila Jayapal's oral history interview in SAADA's archival collections.
83 See the image in SAADA's First Days Project.
The Civil Rights Movement
By Nico Slate
Page In the book For further exploration
85 See the comic at www.shebanirao.com
86 "Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay" Inset Read more about Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay in:
Slate, Nico, Colored Cosmopolitanism: The Shared Struggle for Freedom in the United States and India (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012).
88 "J. J. Singh" Inset Read the rest of Sabrina Singh's interview with Brown Girl Magazine.