Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
Observed by	United States
Date	May
Frequency	annual

Staff Sgt. Kaimi Kawai, an information management specialist, 24th Detachment, 1101st U.S. Army Hawaii Garrison Support Unit, attempts to perform a hula dance with dancers from the Dizanne Productions dance company during an Asian-Pacific American Heritage month celebration.

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), now officially proclaimed Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month,^[1] takes place in May. It celebrates the culture, traditions, and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

History

In June 1977 Reps. Frank Horton of New York and Norman Y. Mineta of California introduced a United States House of Representatives resolution to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week.^[2][3][4] A similar bill was introduced in the Senate a month later by Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga.^[2] "The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants."^[2][5][6] President Jimmy Carter would sign a joint resolution for the celebration on October 5, 1978.^[2]

In 1990, George H.W. Bush signed a bill passed by Congress to extend Asian-American Heritage Week to a month.;^[7][8][9] May would be officially designated as Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month two years later.^{[5][10][11][12]} On May 1, 2009 President Obama issued Presidential Proclamation which recalls the challenges faced by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and celebrates their great and significant contributions to our society.^[13]

Events

During APAHM, communities celebrate the achievements and contributions of Asian and Pacific Americans with community festivals, government-sponsored activities and educational activities for students.^[14]

Pan-Asian

• National Queer and Asian Conference,^[15] first begun 2007

Northeast and East:

• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Annual Gala hosted by the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in Washington, D.C.
• Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month at Altoona, PA's Penn State campus, first begun 2010
• Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month at Waltham, MA's Brandeis University campus, first became a month-long celebration in 2002
• Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival^[16] in New York, New York, first begun 1981
• Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival^[17] in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first begun 2005

West Coast:

• Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month at Portland, Oregon's Lan Su Chinese Garden,^[18]
• Asian Cultural Festival of San Diego,^[19] first begun 2009
• The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival,^[20] first begun in 1983
• Pacific Rim Street Fest^[21] in Sacramento, California, first begun in 1992
• Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center in Chinatown, Oakland, California^[22]
• Asian Heritage Street Celebration^[23] in San Francisco, California
• Asian Pacific Islander Festival in Seattle, Washington^[24]
• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at Seattle, Washington's Wing Luke Asian Museum^[25]

South and Southeast:

• Asian Kaleidoscope Month^[26] at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
• Asian Awareness Month at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida^[27]
• Asian Festival^[28] in Dallas, Texas, first begun 1990
• Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival^[29] in Houston, Texas

Midwest:

• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration^[30] at the University of Illinois's Urbana-Champaign campus
• Cleveland Asian Festival^[31] in Cleveland, Ohio, first begun in 2010

Specific Nationalities

• Taiwanese American Cultural Festival^[32] in San Francisco, California, first begun in 1992

See also

• Asian American
• Asian-Pacific American
• Filipino American History Month
• Pacific Islander
• List of commemorative days

References

1. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=86098
2. "About - Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month". asianpacificheritage.gov. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
3. "Joint Resolution: Authorizing and requesting the President to proclaim the 7-day period beginning on May 4, 1979 as "Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week"" (PDF). Library of Congress. 5 October 1978. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
4. Pub.L. 95–419
5. Pub.L. 102–450
6. "Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project". web.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
7. http://asianpacificheritage.gov/about.html
8. Pub.L. 101–283
9. "Joint Resolution: To designate May 1991 and May 1992 as "Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month"" (PDF). Library of Congress. 14 May 1991. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
10. "Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month | Law Library of Congress". www.loc.gov. 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
11. "Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month". Law Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 6 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-07.
12. "An Act: To designate May of each year as"Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month"" (PDF). Library of Congress. 23 October 1992. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
13. "Presidential Proclamation 8369 of May 1, 2009" (PDF).
14. "Celebrate APA Heritage Month : Asian-Nation :: Asian American History, Demographics, & Issues". www.asian-nation.org. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
15. "アリシアクリニック【口コミ・評判まとめ】". www.calqacon.com. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
16. "Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Festival". www.capaonline.org. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
17. "Sample Page". Silk Screen. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
18. "Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month | Lan Su Chinese Garden". www.lansugarden.org. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
19. "Asian Cultural Festival San Diego". www.asianculturalfestivalsd.com. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
20. "Home". Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
21. "Welcome to the 2015 Pacific Rim Street Festival Site!". www.pacificrimstreetfest.com. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
22. "Festivals and Events | Oakland Asian Cultural Center". oacc.cc. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
23. "Asian Heritage Street Celebration". www.asianfairsf.com. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
24. "Live At Seattle Center". www.seattlecenter.com. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
25. "Home > Wing Luke Museum". www.wingluke.org. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
26. "Index of /". ufakmonth.com. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
27. Government, Student. "Asian American Student Union". sga.fsu.edu. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
28. "asian-festival-2015". asian-festival-2015. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
29. "APAHA - Programs". www.apaha.org. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
30. "AAPI Heritage Month Celebration | Asian American Cultural Center, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign". oiir.illinois.edu. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
31. "2016 Cleveland Asian Festival | May 21–22, 11am to 7pm on Payne Ave. between E. 30th St & E. 27th St, FREE Admission, FREE Parking, No Pets.". clevelandasianfestival.org. Retrieved 2016-02-02.
32. "2014 | Taiwanese American Cultural Festival". tacf.tacl.org. Retrieved 2016-02-02.

External links