Ping and Echo: Wong Kim Ark
Welcome to Ping and Echo, a daily newsletter that links to one amazing podcast episode that is guaranteed to be a great listen for kids and their families. Each newsletter includes links to articles, videos and activities related to the podcast so you can turn every episode into an adventure.
Today’s podcast episode is from the Memory Palace, a brief, delightful history podcast by Nate DiMeo. We featured the Memory Palace once before, you can go back and check it out here. This episode features someone you may not have never heard of, but whose court case helped establish a key part of American law. Wong Kim Ark was a cook in San Francisco who was born in the United State to Chinese immigrant parents in 1873. After his parents returned to China he visited them and upon his return was barred from entering the country, because the government argued he wasn’t a citizen. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which decided the case in 1898 and affirmed that children born in the U.S. have the right to citizenship regardless of their parents' status. In 2018 President Trump argued that he would undue birthright citizenship, bringing Wong Kim Ark’s story back into the present moment.
Podcast: The Memory Palace
Episode: Wong Kim Ark
Length: 8 minutes
🧐 You Should Know
I’ll always give you a heads up if there is anything in the podcast that might surprise or worry kids. Nothing to worry about here.
💡 Try This
After you listen to the episode you can test your knowledge of this topic with the links and activities below:
Citizenship & Participation Activities - iCivics
Read the 14th Amendment
🔎 Explore More
Read up on the history behind this episode with these links:
You can read and hear more about Wong Kim Ark in this Washington Post podcast
Watch PBS’s American Experience episode on Wong Kim Ark
Who was Wong Kim Ark? How a son of immigrants helped define who is a U.S. citizen - KPCC
The name Ping and Echo comes from sonar technology which relies on sending out “pings” and receiving back “echos” to discover the world around you. You can send us pictures of the art and activities created by your kids. Email them to pingandecho@gmail.com and we’ll post all your echos on our Instagram and our Twitter page.
Thanks for lending us your ears and your inbox.
Ruby, Josh, and Toby