Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Welcome to the Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month research guide!

This research guide was designed to celebrate Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month (May) and to highlight both RCBC Library's resources and other freely available resources for our students.

Why was May selected as Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month? 

May was selected because of its historical significance:   

• May 7, 1843 - The 1st immigrant from Japan arrived in the United States. 
• May 10, 1869 - The Transcontinental Railroad was completed.  The majority of workers who completed the railroad were Chinese immigrants.  

Source: https://www.asianpacificheritage.gov/about/

A brief history of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month:

• 1976 - Jennie Jew approached US Representatives to dedicate a month to Asian Pacific Americans
• 1977 - US Representatives Horton & Minetas introduced a resolution for the first 10 days of May to be designated "Asian-Pacific Heritage Week"
• 1978 - President Jimmy Carter signed the joint resolution for the celebration (PL 95-419)
• 1990 - President George H. W. Bush signed a bill to extend celebration from a week to a month (PL101-283)
• 1992 - May officially becomes an annual celebration of "Asian/Pacific American Month" (PL 102-450) 
• 2009 - President Barack Obama signed Proclamation 8369 to designate May as "Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month" 

(Sources: https://www.asianpacificheritage.gov/about/ ; https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-8369-asian-american-and-pacific-islander-heritage-month-2009; https://time.com/5592591/asian-pacific-heritage-month-history/)