LibGuides: Asian American &amp; Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Home

Celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Source: Mural by unknown artist located in Chinatown, San Francisco, California. Carol M.. HIghsmith, photographer. Library of Congress

Resources

American Gamelan and the Ethnomusicological Imagination by Elizabeth A. Clendinning
Call Number: ONLINE
Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America by Vivek Bald
Call Number: ONLINE
A Companion to Korean American Studies by Rachael Miyung Joo (Editor); Shelley Sang-Hee Lee (Editor)
Call Number: ONLINE
East Main Street: Asian American Popular Culture by Shilpa Dave (Editor); Leilani Nishime (Editor); Tasha Oren (Editor); Robert G. Lee (Foreword by)
Call Number: ONLINE
The Filipino Migration Experience by Mina Roces
Call Number: ONLINE
Garden of the world Asian immigrants and the making of agriculture in California's Santa Clara Valley by Tsu, Cecilia M.
Call Number: ONLINE
Hmong in Wisconsin by Mai Zong Vue
Call Number: ONLINE
Koreans in North America by Min-Jung Kwak (Contribution by); et al.
Call Number: ONLINE
The making of Hmong America : forty years after the secret war by Yang, Kou
Call Number: Online
Manifest Technique by Mark R. Villegas
Call Number: ONLINE
Other Moons : Vietnamese short stories of the American War and its aftermath by Ha, Quan Manh, translator, editor.
Call Number: ONLINE
Publication Date: 2020
Our Voices, Our Histories by Shirley Hune (Editor); Gail M. Nomura (Editor)
Call Number: ONLINE
The Unsung Great Stories of Extraordinary Japanese American by Greg Robinson
Call Number: ONLINE
Weathering Katrina by Mark J. VanLandingham; Carl Bankston (Foreword by); Mark VanLandingham
Call Number: ONLINE
We Too Sing America by Deepa Iyer
Call Number: E 184 .A1 I94 2015

Asian Americans PBS Series
"This series traces the story of Asian Americans, spanning 150 years of immigration, racial politics, and cultural innovation. It is a timely look at the role that Asian Americans have played in defining who we are as a nation." From AVON
Asian American Stories of Resilience
"Asian American Stories of Resilience reflects the complexities of Asian American experiences: Queer filmmaker Quyên Nguyen-Le recovers and articulates the legacy of their mother's nail salon for their refugee family, and Filipino-American filmmaker Frances Rubio records and captures the experience of being distanced from her sick father, who has been isolated in his facility during the pandemic." AVON
Center for Asian American Media
"The Center for Asian American Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to presenting stories that convey the richness and diversity of Asian American experiences to the broadest audience possible." From AVON
Chinese Exclusion Act - American Experience
"Examine the origin, history and impact of the 1882 law that made it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America and for Chinese nationals already here ever to become U.S. citizens." From AVON
In No One's Shadow: Filipinos in America
"This video recounts Filipino American history from the 1900s to the present, exploring many of the contributions that Filipinos have made to this society in fields such as agriculture, arts and politics. An important overview of the second largest Asian American ethnic group in the United States, IN NO ONE’S SHADOW paints a comprehensive overview of Filipino American history, tracing their rich and varied accomplishments and contributions to the United States." From AVON
Anna May Wong: Hollywood's First Asian American Movie Star
"At a time when racist laws and shameful stereotyping limited the careers of ethnic minority actors, Anna May Wong broke down doors to become the first Chinese American movie star in history!" From AVON
The Golden Spike
"Folk musician Charlie Chin narrates this accessible introduction to an important part of Asian American history. Although over 10,000 Chinese immigrants helped build the western half of the Transcontinental Railroad, their crucial contribution was largely overlooked for almost an entire century. 'The Golden Spike' is the story of these forgotten workers with photographs, paintings and political cartoons from the period." From AVON
Skin Stories
"''The marks we choose to wear are the clues to the mystery of ourselves...' Tracing back more than 2,000 years to the Pacific Islands, tattoo is an ancient art form that began as a rite of passage for Polynesians and has become a form of expression for people worldwide. Featuring traditional tattooing ceremonies, compelling interviews, and a breathtaking collection of tattoo body art, Skin Stories traces the roots of tattoo, highlighting individual stories and the evolution of cultural traditions in the Pacific." From AVON
Memory, Experience & Imagination in Works of Lao & Hmong American Authors
This event from the Library of Congress "presents a critical but engaging exploration of the role of memory, experience and imagination in each author's writings against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, global migration, refugees, the diaspora, and life in America."

AAPI Data Blog
Blog for AAPI Data, a publisher of statistics on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: community profiles, state statics, infographics and more can also be found at https://aapidata.com/
American Folklife Center Collections: Cambodia
"American Folklife Center collections of Cambodians and Cambodian Americans document the diversity of their expressive culture." From the Library of Congress
American Folklife Center Collections: China
"American Folklife Center collections documenting Chinese cultures represent the diversity of its expressive culture in China and the United States. Among its unique collections are documentation of various styles of Chinese opera theater; examples of traditional papercutting; videos of Chinese storytellers in Yangzhou, China; and documentation of a Chinese school in Texas done as part of the American Folklife Center's Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America Project." From the Library of Congress Folklife Center
American Folklife Center Collections: Japan
"American Folklife Center collections documenting Japanese expressive culture in Japan and the United States represent the diversity of Japanese culture. Collections include ethnographic documentation of Japanese music and culture in Japan. The Chicago Ethic Arts Project and the Ethnic Heritage and Language Schools in America Project, which were American Folklife Center field projects, documented Japanese traditions in Chicago and California respectively. The Occupational Folklife Project collections include interviews with Japanese American potters who studied ceramics in Japan." From the Library of Congress Folklife Center
American Folklife Center Collections: Korea
"American Folklife Center collections documenting Korean culture in Korea and the United States represent the diversity of its expressive culture. Among its unique collections are songs recorded by several Korean students in Washington, D.C. in 1896 by Alice C. Fletcher; recordings of Korean shamanic dance and music by Karl Signell; recordings of Korean folk and classical music by Lee Hye-gu. ... From the Library of Congress Folklife Center
American Folklife Center Collections: Northern Mariana Islands
"The American Folklife Center holds traditional arts documentation from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in the Bess Lomax Hawes collection. ..." From the Library of Congress Folklife Center
American Minority Groups in the Vietnam War: A Resource Guide
"According to the Library of Congress online presentation Belonging on and off the Battlefield: Asian Americans in the U.S. Military, roughly 35,000 Asian Americans served in the Vietnam War." From the Library of Congress, American Minority Groups in the Vietnam War.
Asian American and Pacific Islander Materials: A Resource Guide
"This guide serves as a point of entry for researchers seeking materials in multiple formats on Asian American/Pacific Islander studies and related resources at the Library of Congress. The types of resources covered in this guide range from special collections containing photographs, diary entries, and recorded interviews to monographs, reference works, and serials. ..." From the Library of Congress, Asian American and Pacific Islander Materials: A Resource Guide
Asian Nation
"Your one-stop information resource and overview of the historical, demographic, political, and cultural issues that make up today's diverse Asian American community. You can think of Asian-Nation as an online version of 'Asian Americans 101.'" From the website
Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month
"he 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." From the website
Camp Harmony Exhibit
"n the spring of 1942, just months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, more than 100,000 residents of Japanese ancestry were forcefully evicted by the army from their homes in Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona and Alaska, and sent to nearby temporary assembly centers. From there they were sent by trains to American-style concentration camps at remote inland sites where many people spent the remainder of the war. This exhibit tells the story of Seattle's Japanese American community in the spring and summer of 1942 and their four month sojourn at the Puyallup Assembly Center known as 'Camp Harmony.'"
Chinese Americans in the Columbia River Basin
"Primary documents that tell the story of ethnic groups along the Columbia River Basin (encompassing areas of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, Utah and and British Columbia)."
Chinese in California
From the Online Archive of California, The Chinese in California, 1850-1925 illustrates through images and primary source documents, the 19th and 20th Century Chinese immigration experience.
DENSHO: The Japanese American Legacy Project
Site documents and archives oral histories and photos from Japanese Americans who were incarcerated during World War II. Nonprofit organization has a mission to educate, preserve, collaborate and inspire action for equity.
Filipino-American Materials: A Resource Guide
"This guide is a starting point for researchers seeking materials in multiple formats on Filipino-Americans and related resources at the Library of Congress. The types of items covered here range from special collections containing photographs and diary entries to monographs, reference works, serials, and newspapers." From the Library of Congress, Filipino-American Materials: A Resource Guide
Google Arts and Culture
"Join The Met in celebrating the history, culture, and achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) who have contributed to the arts." From the website
Hmong Resource Center
A collection of resources relating to Hmong and Southeast Asian history, culture, language and current events based in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration
Japanese American Digital Archive
"The Japanese American Relocation Digital Archives (JARDA) contains thousands of primary sources documenting Japanese American internment."
The Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Digital Archive
"The Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Study (JERS) was a research project initiated in 1942 at the University of California, Berkeley. It aimed to document and examine the mass internment of Japanese Americans by embedding Nisei social science students recruited from the Berkeley campus into selected internment sites." From the website
The Japanese American National Museum
"As the national repository of Japanese American history, JANM creates groundbreaking historical and arts exhibitions, educational public programs, award-winning documentaries, and innovative curriculum that illuminate the stories and the rich cultural heritage of people of Japanese ancestry in the United States."
Japanese Americans in the Columbia River Basin
From the Washington State University Digital Archives.
Korean American Digital Archives
From the USC Digital Library
Library of Congress Research Guides
Index to the Library of Congress Research Guides
National Archives
Contains documents and records created by the United States Federal government on various topics including family records, US military records, or immigration.
New York Times Topics - Asian Americans
Nikkei Newspapers Digital Archive
"Provides access to two significant newspapers which tell the story of Japanese immigration and Japanese American community life in Seattle and beyond, from 1902 to 1950, and continuing to the present day."
Pew Research Center - Asian Americans
"We explore the diverse experiences and opinions of Asian Americans and immigrants of Asian origin with in-depth surveys and other research. Our work focuses on capturing the attitudes and experiences reflecting the diverse cultures and origins represented in the Asian population living in the U.S., around topics like identity, the economy, politics and social mobility." From the website
Phillipine-American Relations, 1898-1930
Links to books and government documents related to the Spanish-American War and the U.S. involvement with the Philippines from the University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center.
Pioneering Punjabis Digital Archive
"This archive offers a window into the story of South Asian immigrants from the Punjab region in north India to California since the turn of the twentieth century. ...The Archive is the fruit of a collaboration between the University of California, Davis Middle East/South Asia Studies and Yuba City’s Punjabi American Heritage Society.
SEAAdoc
SEAAdoc is an educational resource of the Southeast Asian Archive at the UC Irvine Libraries focusing on post-1975 refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and the communities they have developed in the United States
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center
"The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center brings history, art and culture to you through innovative museum experiences and digital initiatives." From the website
South Asian American Digital Archive
"SAADA uses the power of stories to create belonging for 5.4+ million South Asian Americans." From the website
The Southeast Asian Archive
From the University of California, Irvine, "The Archive's collection is broad and interdisciplinary in documenting the social, cultural, religious, political, and economic life of members of the Cambodian, Hmong, Laotian, and Vietnamese diaspora."
The Wars for Viet Nam - Vassar College
"This site, developed around the course materials for Robert Brigham's first-year seminar on the Vietnam War at Vassar College, offers visitors an opportunity to examine some of those sources, including numerous official documents. Brigham was one of the first American scholars given access to Hanoi’s archives on the war. Included here are his translations of some of the Hanoi documents, offered for examination and study."

Statistics

Source: The Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

Source: PEW Research Center: Key facts about Asian Americans, a diverse and growing population

U.S. Census Bureau

What It Means to Be Asian in America Today - PEW Research Center

"In the fall of 2021, Pew Research Center undertook the largest focus group study it had ever conducted – 66 focus groups with 264 total participants – to hear Asian Americans talk about their lived experiences in America. The focus groups were organized into 18 distinct Asian ethnic origin groups, fielded in 18 languages and moderated by members of their own ethnic groups."

From the PEW Research Center's, In Their Own Word: The Diverse Perspectives of Being Asian in America, read the responses to learn more.

Read more about Asian Americans from the PEW Research Center's Research Topic

Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Get Help From the Library

Spring Hours

Celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Resources

Statistics

U.S. Census Bureau

What It Means to Be Asian in America Today - PEW Research Center