May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America's history and are instrumental in its future success.
Bravespace
Bravespace is a compilation of original songs, sounds, and meditations created by Asian American women and non-binary artists and musicians. Arriving amidst a period of collective trauma and heightened xenophobic violence, Bravespace offers listeners a refuge for contemplation, grief, and growth.
Image Credit: Bravespace, illustration by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya
Citizen Archivist
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The National Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the Asian and Pacific Islander experience, and it highlights these resources online, in programs, and through traditional and social media. You can help make more records accessible by becoming a citizen archivist. Find out more about transcribing and tagging Chinese heritage records from the exclusion era.
Image Credit: Photograph of Duke Kahanamoku and Johnny Weissmuller at Waikiki, August 1927. From: Photographs Series in Collection DDE-1338, Floyd L. Parks Papers, 1913 – 1965. National Archives ID: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/6121005
National Park Service Celebrates Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have a rich heritage thousands of years old and have both shaped the history of the United States and had their lives dramatically influenced by moments in its history. Every May during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and throughout the year, the National Park Service and its partners share those histories and the continuing culture thriving in parks and communities today.
Image credit: Courtesy of National Park Service.
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Collection
The AAPI Collection features more than 230 public radio and television programs in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting from 1965 to 2019 that highlight Asian American and Pacific Islander cultures in the United States. The collection includes interviews with Asian American artists and writers, such as Maya Lin, Aimee Lee, Jhumpa Lahiri, Amy Tan, and Frank Chin.
Image Credit: Poster “We Belong Here” by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, 2021. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, © Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, LC-DIG-ppbd-01204. Special Use Permissions for Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya's images
Stories from the Veterans History Project: Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander American Veterans
Kimberly Mitchell, James Miho, Jaden Kim, Kenje Ogata, John Junji Katsu, Mary Nagano Salmen, and Veasna Rouen. The
digital collection Asian Pacific
Americans: Going for Broke highlights additional stories from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and
Iraq. (Library of Congress)
Left image credit: [Detail of] Kenje Ogata in uniform, Sterling, Illinois. 1943. Kenje Ogata Collection (AFC2001/001/76800), Veterans History Project, Library of Congress.
Right image credit: [Detail of] Kimberly Mitchell taken for National University, San Diego, CA. Kimberly Mitchell Collection (AFC2001/001/113667), Veterans History Project, Library of Congress.
Teaching Resources – Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage and History in the U.S.
Since 1990, the U.S. government has designated the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, celebrating the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the United States. This Teacher's Guide offers a collection of lessons and resources for K-12 social studies, literature, and arts classrooms that center around the experiences, achievements, and perspectives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across U.S. history.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
2023 Event Highlights
Festival
May 1—14
National Museum of Asian Art
The National Museum of Asian Art’s centennial will culminate in a two-week festival celebrating Asian art and cultures of the past, present, and future. May 1–14, 2023, the museum and its surroundings on and near the National Mall will be activated by keynote speakers, headline performers, interactive experiences, culinary adventures, and community projects.
(Smithsonian Institution)
Special Display
May 2
Celebrating the Art and Literature of Jade Snow Wong (1922–2006)
This display highlights Jade Snow Wong, the noted Chinese American author and ceramist. Wong was born in 1922, one of nine children of an immigrant family in San Francisco's Chinatown. While family pressure pushed her to prepare for the “traditional roles” of wife and mother, Wong pursued higher education at Mills College in Oakland, California where she developed a great talent for ceramic arts.
(Library of Congress)
Online Event
May 2
Identity and Culture in the Digital Age
Join us for a panel discussion with trailblazing AANHPI DMV-based content creators as they reflect on how identity and culture influence their digital content creation and messaging to a global network of followers. Learn how they use their platforms to raise awareness around social issues and introduce people to different cultures. Featured panelists include Linh Truong, Amjaad Al-Hussain, and more.
(National Portrait Gallery--Smithsonian Institution)
Concert
May 3
From China To Appalachia, concert featuring Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer with Chao Tian
Grammy Award winning American Roots artists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer (guitars, gourd banjo, five-string banjo, ukulele, cello-banjo and mandolin) join with Chao Tian, who plays Chinese classical hammered dulcimer (yangqin), in a show that features music from China to Appalachia and beyond.
(Homegrown Concert Series—Library of Congress)
Online Event
May 6
Youth In Action: What the Youth Can Do (Hoʻolale I Ka ʻai A Ka Uʻi)
“Hoʻolale i ka ʻai a ka uʻi” is a Hawaiian proverb that roughly translates to “what the youth can do.” This special Youth In Action program was filmed in Hawaiʻi and showcases what Native Hawaiian youth are doing to protect their traditions. The program has four segments: voyaging and wayfinding, hula as resistance, heiau (sacred space) restoration, and food sovereignty.
(Smithsonian Institution)
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