Special Observance: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

This May marks an important milestone for those of Asian American / Pacific Islander heritage. It was 40 years ago this month that the need for recognition of Asian Americans and their contributions to our country gained momentum in Washington.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, formerly known as Asian Pacific American or APA, was first established in 1977. In June of that year, Frank Horton (Rep. NY), and Norman Y. Mineta (Rep. CA) introduced a House resolution that would call for the first ten days in May to celebrate Asian/Pacific Heritage week. That following month, senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a similar bill in the Senate. On Oct. 5, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution designating APA an annual celebration. It wasn’t until 1990 when George H. W. Bush signed a bill passed by Congress to extend Asian American Heritage from one week to a full month.

The month of May was chosen to commemorate two important historical events; the immigration of the first Japanese immigrant to the U.S. on May 7, 1843, and 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.

Manjiro Nakanohama, also known as John Mung, is the first Japanese national to immigrate to the U.S. Celebrated by school children in Japan, his life is somewhat of a legend but remains relatively unknown by Americans. He is considered America’s first ambassador to Japan. To learn more about Manjiro, visit www.manjiro.org/manjiro.html

To read more about the Chinese immigrants and how the transcontinental railroad shaped the face of America today, visit web.stanford.edu/group/chineserailroad/cgi-bin/wordpress/faqs/

Other great information:

Asian-Americans & Pacific Islanders in the United States Army https://www.army.mil/asianpacificamericans/history/

Asian-American Recipients of the Medal of Honor www.homeofheroes.com/e-books/mohE_asian/

Korean War Hero Lee, First Chinese-American Marine www.smithsonianmag.com/history/celebrated-korean-war-hero-chew-een-lee-died-88-years-old-180950063/

Asian American and Pacific Islander Fact Sheet www.va.gov/centerforminorityveterans/docs/factSheetAanhpiOnePage.pdf