Ignacio Ornelas Rodriguez
616 Jane Stanford Way
Encina Hall, E005
Stanford, CA 94305-6060
Ignacio Ornelas Rodriguez, Ph.D., is a historian who conducts research on civil rights, social justice movements, and electoral politics. He is a lecturer at the Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity at Stanford (CCSRE). In addition to his work at Stanford, Ornelas Rodriguez works with the San Jose Unified School District developing the ethnic studies curriculum and teaching courses in the social sciences. Dr. Ornelas Rodriguez has led seminars for high school students on international security with SPICE.
He previously worked in the Department of Special Collections and University Archives at Stanford conducting research and led projects procuring archival research collections surrounding literature, ethnic history, civil rights history, and social justice history. His projects included the Bob Fitch Photography Archive; the David Bacon Photography Archive at Stanford: Work & Social Justice; the Dr. Marion Moses Papers; the Richard Rodriguez Papers; the Frank Bardacke Papers; and many other collections available for research at Stanford.
At Stanford he founded the Bracero Legacy Project, a public history and educational outreach venture that incorporates archival material from the Ernesto Galarza Collection and oral history interviews Ornelas Rodriguez conducted with former braceros. On September 14, 2013, Ornelas Rodriguez was recognized by the California Assembly for his work as an organizer of the Bracero Memorial Highway Project.
From 2018 to 2020 he was a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. His research focused on California history, and in particular, Chicano history and Chicano/Latino studies and Latino politics. Much of his work has focused on archival research that documents Mexican and Mexican American history. The history of Mexican labor in the United States necessarily includes the study of civil and voting rights and the generations of Mexicans who advocated for those rights. In 2022 he was recognized by UC Berkeley’s Latinx Research Center for his invaluable work in obtaining historic funding that will enable the Latinx Research Center to grow and continue to provide research opportunities to the Latino community at UC Berkeley.
In 2023 Ornelas Rodriguez was acknowledged by California Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas and State Senator Anna Caballero for his leadership championing the rich heritage and history of California and expanding awareness through public history programs that recognize agricultural workers.
Dr. Ornelas Rodriguez currently serves on the board of directors of the California Institute for Rural Studies. He received his Master’s in Education from the University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Dr. Ornelas Rodriguez can be reached for speaking engagements and to collaborate at iornelas@stanford.edu.
In the news:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-03-07/migrant-crash-holtville-chualar-los-gatos-blythe
https://www.kqed.org/arts/13920367/joe-kapp-toughest-chicano-salinas
https://www.metrosiliconvalley.com/the-bracero-program-legacy-rooted-in-california-agriculture/
Angel Island Immigration Station: The Hidden History
On September 2, 2020, over 160 educators from across the United States joined a webinar titled “Angel Island Immigration Station: The Hidden History.” The Angel Island Immigration Station was located in San Francisco Bay and was operational from 1910 to 1940. It was established in order to control and enforce the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act and other immigration-related laws that followed, e.g., the Immigration Act of 1924, which included the Asian Exclusion Act and the National Origins Act.
The featured speaker was Connie Young Yu, a writer, activist, and historian. Yu has written and spoken extensively about the contrasts between Ellis Island Immigration Station in New York Harbor—in which immigrants primarily from Europe were welcomed by an image of the Statue of Liberty—and Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay where immigrants entering the United States primarily from Asia were detained and interrogated. The largest detained group of immigrants was from China. Reflecting on the webinar, Yu commented:
I was glad to share my “hidden history” during the SPICE webinar, including the saving of the immigration barracks in the 1970s and my grandmother’s lengthy detention on Angel Island. The immigration station barracks—now a national monument—were nearly destroyed had it not been for Ranger Alexander Weiss and the activism of a citizens’ committee. The writing on the barracks’ walls by Chinese detainees still speaks to us today of peoples’ struggle against immigration exclusion and institutionalized racism.
The webinar can be viewed below.
Yu’s talk was followed by SPICE’s Jonas Edman who worked with graphic artist Rich Lee to publish Angel Island: The Chinese-American Experience. Edman shared scenes and activities from this graphic novel that tell the story of Chinese immigrants who were detained at Angel Island Immigration Station. The graphic novel has been widely used nationally to educate students about immigration to the United States from China. Yu remarked, “I was thrilled to hear from Jonas Edman about the brilliant graphic novel, Angel Island: The Chinese American Experience. At last, as part of the curriculum, students can learn in living color about how the detainees struggled and endured, the human side of Chinese immigration exclusion.”
Given the prevalence of immigration-related news over the past several years, several teachers in attendance noted the importance for school curricula to include topics related to immigration history in the United States. Following the webinar, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation’s Executive Director Edward Tepporn reflected:
Growing up in Texas, I didn’t learn about Angel Island and its significant role in our nation’s complex history until after I moved to the Bay Area… Especially as racism and xenophobia are on the rise in the U.S., it’s important to uplift the full history of how our nation has treated its diverse immigrant communities, including the injustices they have endured as well as their important contributions.
Edman suggests that teachers consider asking students essential questions like: How and why did U.S. immigration policy favor certain groups and not others? What impact did laws such as the U.S. federal law, Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, have on Chinese immigration to the United States? In what ways did Chinese immigrants advocate for themselves and actively respond to discrimination and exclusion? How is U.S. immigration policy similar and different today? Also, Edman highly recommends teachers to visit the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation website, which includes excellent teaching resources, including primary sources.
The webinar was made possible through the support of the Freeman Foundation’s National Consortium for Teaching about Asia initiative. The webinar was a joint collaboration between SPICE and Stanford’s Center for East Asian Studies. Special thanks to Dr. Dafna Zur, CEAS Director, and John Groschwitz, CEAS Associate Director, for their support; and to SPICE’s Naomi Funahashi for facilitating the webinar and Sabrina Ishimatsu for planning the webinar.
Angel Island: The Chinese American Experience
https://spicestore.stanford.edu/products/angel-island-the-chinese-american-expe…
Chinese American Voices: Teaching with Primary Sources
https://spicestore.stanford.edu/products/chinese-american-voices-teaching-with-…Read More
On September 2, 2020, over 160 educators from across the United States joined a webinar titled “Angel Island Immigration Station: The Hidden History.”
SPICE Webinar: “Angel Island Immigration Station: The Hidden History”
Webinar recording: https://youtu.be/ou4OpF-8j-g
Connie will speak about how the Chinese detention barracks on Angel Island were saved from demolition in the 1970s, opening the door to the hidden history of the immigration station. She will recount the experience of her grandmother, Mrs. Lee Yoke Suey, who was detained in the barracks for 15 and a half months starting in 1924 and how the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled on her grandmother’s case.
The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), which is a program of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, worked with graphic artist Rich Lee to publish Angel Island: The Chinese-American Experience. Its author, Jonas Edman, will share activities and materials from this graphic novel that tells the story of Chinese immigrants who were detained at Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay between 1910 and 1940.
This webinar is a joint collaboration between the Center for East Asian Studies and SPICE at Stanford University.
Featured Speakers:
Connie Young Yu

Connie Young Yu is a writer, activist and historian. She is the author of Chinatown, San Jose, USA, co-editor of Voices from the Railroad: Stories by Descendants of Chinese Railroad Workers, and has written for many exhibits and documentaries on Asian Americans. She was on the citizens committee (AIISHAC) that saved the Angel Island immigration barracks for historical preservation and was a founding member of Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI). Connie is board member emeritus of the Chinese Historical Society of America and historical advisor for the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project (CHCP).
Jonas Edman
Jonas Edman is an Instructional Designer for the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE). In addition to writing curricula, Jonas coordinates SPICE’s National Consortium for Teaching About Asia (NCTA) professional development seminars on East Asia for middle school teachers, and teaches online courses for high school students. He also collaborates with Stanford Global Studies on the Education Partnership for Internationalizing Curriculum (EPIC) Fellowship Program. Prior to joining SPICE in 2010, Jonas taught history and geography in Elk Grove, California, and taught “Theory of Knowledge” at Stockholm International School in Stockholm, Sweden.
Via Zoom Webinar. Registration Link: https://bit.ly/3g9qnPc.
SPICE Webinar: "Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University"
Webinar recording: https://youtu.be/9eyHTMF2L7w
Upwards of 15,000 to 20,000 individual migrant Chinese laborers performed the bulk of the work constructing the Central Pacific span of the Transcontinental Railroad. Between 1864 and 1869, these Chinese also crossed the Pacific Ocean in what was then, and may still rank among the largest transnational labor migration movements. How do we find sources to uncover this forgotten and deliberately erased history? How did they live their daily lives? What kinds of enterprise did they innovate? How did their work on the railroad shape their lives in communities on both sides of the Pacific? We will look together at digital resources available at: http://web.stanford.edu/group/chineserailroad/cgi-bin/website/.
In 2018, the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE), which is a program of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, published four lessons on the Chinese Railroad Workers. These units adapt the research, primary sources, and insights of the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project for high school students and classes. Together, we'll engage in several activities from these lessons which are free for download from the SPICE website.
This webinar is a joint collaboration between the Center for East Asian Studies and SPICE at Stanford University.
Featured Speakers:
Roland Hsu, Ph.D.
Dr. Roland Hsu
Roland Hsu is Director of Research for the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University. Hsu’s publications address migration and ethnic identity formation. His is the author of multiple essays in international scholarly collections, and in policy journals including Le Monde Diplomatique. Hsu’s most recent book is Migration and Integration. His writing focuses on the history of migration, and on contemporary immigration policy questions, combining humanistic and social science methods and materials to answer what displaces peoples, how do societies respond to migration, and what are the experiences of resettlement. Hsu earned his Ph.D. in Modern European History at the University of Chicago. He holds an M.A. in Art History from the University of Chicago, and a dual B.A. in Art History and also English Literature from the University of California, Berkeley.
Greg Francis
Greg Francis is a Curriculum Consultant for SPICE. Previously, he was Director of Impact Programs for Net Impact. In that role, he led a team that designed and executed experiential learning programs for college students. Before that, Greg was a director for The Broad Superintendents Academy, where he oversaw an executive training program for leaders of urban school districts. With SPICE, Greg has authored or co-authored 10 curriculum units, including Along the Silk Road; Security, Civil Liberties, and Terrorism; International Environmental Politics; and China’s Cultural Revolution. In 2007, Greg received the Franklin Buchanan Prize, which is awarded annually by the Association for Asian Studies to honor an outstanding curriculum publication on Asia at any educational level. Greg received a B.A. in International Relations from Stanford University and M.A. in Latin American Studies from the Universidad Andina Simón Bolívar in Ecuador.
Via Zoom Webinar. Registration Link: https://bit.ly/37XYffc.