Golden Legacy Curriculum

A Curriculum Sponsored by the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project and History San José (formerly San Jose Historical Museum)

GsmlegacyGolden Legacy is a set of curriculum materials on Chinese and Chinese American culture that won the 1994 Santa Clara County Reading Council Award. The Golden Legacy was produced as a joint project of the Chinese Historical and Cultural Project and the San Jose Historical Museum (now History San José). A hard copy Golden Legacy curriculum was donated to each elementary school in Santa Clara in 1994.

Golden Legacy curriculum materials were designed to complement the California State History-Social Science Framework of the third, fourth and fifth grades in public schools. Many of the curriculum units could have also been used in higher grades, particularly when students study World Civilization (grade 6 and 7) and U.S. History (grade 8). (Note: See disclaimer below.)

In 1999, CHCP received a Hewlett Packard Silicon Valley Grant to produce an inexpensive CD-ROM version of Golden Legacy, which was given to eligible local schools and libraries.

In 2001, CHCP awarded a $8,500 grant to History San José for a third edition of Chinatown, San Jose USA, originally published by the San Jose Historical Museum Association (now History San José) in 1991. CHCP and History San José worked together to distribute both a copy of this book and the Golden Legacy CD to every school in the Santa Clara Valley.

The 300-page hard copy version (above) includes a set of 20 slides on the Ng Shing Gung from San Jose’s Chinatown and the award-winning video Home Base: A Chinatown Called Heinlenville.
GL_cd-romThe CD version (left) includes the Home Base video and is available to the general public for a donation. The Golden Legacy order form can be accessed here.

Disclaimer: The Golden Legacy curriculum materials are no longer aligned with the current California State Standards for History-Social Science, but its content is still informative and culturally pertinent.

Golden Legacy contains 20 curriculum units:
New Beginnings Immigration
Chinatowns
Survival Railroad Building
New Almaden Mine
Agriculture
Daily Life Clothing
Bound Feet
Queues
Value System
Names
Traditions Lunar Calendar
Celebrations
Symbolism
Education System Writing System
Abacus
Tangrams
Folk Tales, Songs and Games
Puppetry
Lasting Legacy Postage Stamps
Conclusion
Vocabulary
Teacher Resources
Index

Please address questions on Golden Legacy to: info@chcp.org.