Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (, officially changed from Asian American Pacific Islander Month) is observed in the United States during the month of May, and recognizes the contributions and influence of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States.

Background
The first Asians documented in the Americas arrived in 1587, when Filipinos landed in California; from 1898 to 1946, the Philippines was an American possession. The next group of Asians documented in what would be the United States were Indians in Jamestown, documented as early as 1635. In 1778, the first Chinese to reach what would be the United States, arrived in Hawaii. In 1788, the first Native Hawaiian arrived on the continental United States, in Oregon; in 1900, Hawaii was annexed by the United States. The next group of Asians documented in what would be the United States were Japanese, who arrived in Hawaii in 1806. In 1884, the first Koreans arrived in the United States. In 1898, Guam was ceded to the United States; beginning in the 1900s, Chamorros began to migrate to California and Hawaii. In 1904, what is now American Samoa was ceded to the United States; beginning in the 1920s, Samoans began to migrate to Hawaii and the continental United States, with the first Samoans documented in Hawaii in 1920. In 1912, the first Vietnamese was documented in the United States.

History
A former congressional staffer in the 1970s, Jeanie Jew, first approached Representative Frank Horton with the idea of designating a month to recognize Asian Pacific Americans, following the bicentennial celebrations. In June 1977, Representatives Horton, and Norman Y. Mineta, introduced a United States House of Representatives resolution to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate a month later by Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga.

The proposed resolutions sought that May be designated for two reasons. First, on May 7, 1843, the first Japanese immigrant, Nakahama Manjirō, arrived in the United States. More than two decades later, on May 10, 1869, the golden spike was driven into the first transcontinental railroad, which was completed using Chinese labor.

President Jimmy Carter signed a joint resolution for the celebration on October 5, 1978.

On May 1, 2009, President Barack Obama signed Proclamation 8369, recognizing the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

On April 30, 2021, President Joe Biden signed Proclamation 10189, recognizing the month of May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Federal legislation
"A joint resolution authorizing the President to proclaim annually a week during the first 10 days in May as Pacific/Asian American Heritage Week." was text in House Joint Resolution 540; this resolution as well as Senate Joint Resolution 72 did not pass. Ultimately, though, Rep. Horton's House Joint Resolution 1007 was passed by both the House and the Senate, and was signed by President Jimmy Carter on October 5, 1978, to become Public Law 95-419. In 1990, George H. W. Bush signed a bill passed by Congress to extend Asian-American Heritage Week to a month; May was officially designated as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month two years later.

Observances
During Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, communities celebrate the achievements and contributions of Asian and Pacific Americans with community festivals, government-sponsored activities and educational activities for students. <!--

Pan-Asian

 * National Queer and Asian Conference, first begun 2007

Northeast and East:


 * Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Annual Gala hosted by the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in Washington, D.C.
 * Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month at Altoona, PA's Penn State campus, first begun 2010
 * Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month at Waltham, MA's Brandeis University campus, first became a month-long celebration in 2002
 * Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival in New York City, first begun 1981
 * Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first begun 2005

West Coast:


 * Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month at Portland, Oregon's Lan Su Chinese Garden
 * Asian Cultural Festival of San Diego, first begun 2009
 * The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, first begun in 1983
 * Pacific Rim Street Fest in Sacramento, California, first begun in 1992
 * Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center in Chinatown, Oakland, California
 * Asian Heritage Street Celebration in San Francisco
 * Asian Pacific Islander Festival in Seattle, Washington
 * Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at Seattle, Washington's Wing Luke Asian Museum

South and Southeast:


 * Asian Kaleidoscope Month at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
 * Asian Awareness Month at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida
 * Asian Festival in Dallas, Texas, first begun 1990
 * Asian Pacific American Heritage Festival in Houston, Texas

Midwest:


 * Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Celebration at the University of Illinois's Urbana-Champaign campus
 * [http:// Asian Festival, Columbus, www.asian-festival.org] in Columbus, Ohio, first begun in 1995 grown to be the largest Asian Festival in the Midwest with Fourteen ethnicity participation
 * Cleveland Asian Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, first begun in 2010

Specific nationalities

 * Taiwanese American Cultural Festival in San Francisco, first begun in 1992.

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