Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

♦  Asian Pacific American Heritage Association
The Asian American Heritage Association (AAHA) was formed in 1992 to "promote awareness and increase understanding of the Asian American culture and its diversity through education and celebration, focusing on May, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), and continuing throughout the year." In 1998, the official name of the organization changed to the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Association (APAHA).

♦  Asian American Journalists Association
The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) was founded in 1981 by a few Asian-American journalists who felt a need to support one another and to encourage more Asian Americans to pursue journalism at a time when there were few Asian-American faces in the media.

♦  Infoplease.com – Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month
The Infoplease.com site includes links to Asian-Pacific American history and timelines, special features, biographies, Asian-American enclaves, and quizzes and games to test your knowledge of Asian-Pacific American history, people and significant events.

♦  Asian American Net
The mission of Asian American Net is to promote and strengthen cultural, educational and commercial ties between Asia and North America.  An invaluable Internet resource for students, teachers, businessmen and anyone interested in Asia.

♦  Who's Who of Asian Americans
Asian American Net publishes biographies of Asian Americans who have made significant achievements in their careers and professional fields and those who contributed significantly to their communities and American society at large.

♦  Japanese American National Museum
The Japanese American National Museum is the only museum in the United States dedicated to sharing the experience of Americans of Japanese ancestry.

♦  Japanese-American Internment Camps during World War II
Photographs from the Special Collections Department, J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah, and Private Collections.  Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States was gripped by war hysteria. This was especially strong along the Pacific coast of the U.S., where residents feared more Japanese attacks on their cities, homes and businesses. Leaders in California, Oregon and Washington demanded that the residents of Japanese ancestry be removed from their homes along the coast and relocated in isolated inland areas. As a result of this pressure, on February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the forcible internment of 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry. More than two-thirds of those interned under the executive order were citizens of the United States, and none had ever shown any disloyalty. The War Relocation Authority was created to administer the assembly centers, relocation centers, and internment camps, and relocation of Japanese-Americans began in April 1942. Internment camps were scattered all over the interior West, in isolated desert areas of Arizona, California, Utah, Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming, where Japanese-Americans were forced to carry on their lives under harsh conditions. President Roosevelt rescinded Executive Order 9066 in 1944, and the last of the camps was closed in March 1946.

♦  The War Relocation Camps of World War II
This online lesson plan for students is based on the Manzanar War Relocation Center and the Rowher Relocation Center Memorial Cemetery, two of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Both properties have been designated National Historic Landmarks.

♦  PBS: Conscience and the Constitution
In World War II, a handful of young Americans refused to be drafted from an American concentration camp.  They were ready to fight for their country, but not before the government restored their rights as U.S. citizens and released their families from camp. It was a classic example of civil disobedience -- but the government prosecuted them as criminals and Japanese American leaders and veterans ostracized them as traitors.  The PBS series, “Conscience and the Constitution,” delves into the heart of the Japanese-American conscience and a controversy that continues today. Experience the choice faced by any group when confronted by mass injustice -- whether to comply or to resist.

♦  The Yamato Colony
Abiko Kyutaro, a Japanese-American labor contractor, newspaper publisher, and advocate for Japanese-American rights, formed the American Land and Produce Company in 1906.  Kyutaro’s company purchased 3,200 acres of desert land in California’s San Joaquin Valley.  Kyutaro hired Japanese workers to till the land, dig irrigation ditches, and make the land suitable for farming.  Forty Japanese farmers accepted Kyutaro’s offer to settle in the area as farmers.  The settlement, called Yamato (or New Japan) Colony, became very successful within a decade.  White farmers on the West Coast resented the success of the Yamato Colony and regarded its inhabitants as foreign competitors.  The Yamato Colony, like other visible accomplishments of Japanese immigrants, contributed to an anti-Japanese backlash that led to a series of land-ownership and immigration restrictions, as well as incidents of violence and the burning of Japanese farms (compiled from American Civil Rights Almanac, Volume 1).

♦  Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
The Angel Island immigration station was opened in 1910 in San Francisco Bay to accommodate the influx of wives and children of Japanese workers, as well as the continuing trickle of Chinese immigrants.  Immigrants awaiting processing were detained there, often for weeks or months, in makeshift barracks.  The conditions were so terrible on Angel Island that many prospective immigrants committed suicide rather than endure the wait.  The facility was closed in 1940 (compiled from American Civil Rights Almanac, Volume 1).

♦  Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Asian Pacific American History and Culture
Selected links from the Smithsonian highlighting the importance of Asian Pacific American contributions to American history and culture.

♦  Asia Source
A resource of Asian-American culture, including the latest news stories, arts and culture, business and economics, policy and government, and social issues.

♦  PBS: Ancestors in the Americas
The “Ancestors in the Americas” companion Web site helps to round out the stories and ideas presented in this groundbreaking series. Visit the Asian American Timeline to learn about specific moments and events that shaped Asian-American history. Join an online discussion to talk about the series or related topics regarding Asian-Americans. Use the Resource section to further explore the Asian-American experience. For educators, the Web site includes classroom guides with discussion questions related to “Ancestors in the Americas.”

♦  Southeast Asian Archive - UC Irvine Libraries
Since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 over 1.2 million refugees and immigrants from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam have arrived in the United States, with 40% settling in California. In order to document their experiences in a new culture the University of California, Irvine Library established the Southeast Asian Archive in 1987. The archive collects materials relating to the resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees and immigrants in the United States (and to a lesser extent, worldwide), the boat people and land refugees, and the culture and history of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. There is a special focus on materials pertaining to Southeast Asians in Orange County and California.

♦  CAPAA - Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs
The mission of the CAPAA is to improve the well-being of Asian-Pacific Americans by insuring their access to participation in government, business, education, and other fields.  The CAPAA’s 28-year history marks a legacy of advocacy, community education and outreach, as well as interagency and community collaborations to improve the well-being of the Asian-Pacific American communities.

Freedom Forum Library Resources / Freedom Forum Celebrates

Updated 4/18/2005