LibGuides: Celebrating Diversity: Asian American and Pacific Islander Month

AAPI Heritage Month History

In 1978 President Carter signed a joint resolution establishing the first ten days of May as Asian Pacific Heritage Week. Thereafter, presidents annually passed proclamations for an Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week. In 1990 Congress passed a law designating May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month.

President Obama signed a proclamation in 2009 recognizing the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Videos

Recommended eBooks

The Color of Success by Ellen D. Wu
ISBN: 9780691168029
Publication Date: 2015-12-29
The Color of Success tells of the astonishing transformation of Asians in the United States from the "yellow peril" to "model minorities"--peoples distinct from the white majority but lauded as well-assimilated, upwardly mobile, and exemplars of traditional family values--in the middle decades of the twentieth century. Summary taken from book.
Gateway State by Sarah Miller-Davenport
ISBN: 9780691181233
Publication Date: 2019-04-09
How Hawai'i became an emblem of multiculturalism during its journey to statehood in the mid-twentieth century Gateway State explores the development of Hawai'i as a model for liberal multiculturalism and a tool of American global power in the era of decolonization. The establishment of Hawai'i statehood in 1959 was a watershed moment, not only in the ways Americans defined their nation's role on the international stage but also in the ways they understood the problems of social difference at home. Summary taken from book.
Growing up Asian American in Young Adult Fiction by Ymitri Mathison (Editor)
ISBN: 9781496815064
Publication Date: 2017-11-30
'Growing Up Asian American in Young Adult Fiction' focuses on moving beyond stereotypes to examine how Asian American children and adolescents define their unique identities. Summary taken from book.
Negotiating Tradition, Becoming American by Rifat Anjum Salam
ISBN: 9781593326203
Publication Date: 2013-12-01
Salam examines how second generation South Asian Americans assimilate by analyzing their family experiences, their structural circumstances and their adult life choice through the lens of arranged marriage. Summary taken from book.
Sailors and Traders by Alastair Couper
ISBN: 9780824864231
Publication Date: 2008-12-09
Written by a senior scholar and master mariner, Sailors and Traders is the first comprehensive account of the maritime peoples of the Pacific. Summary taken from book.

Websites

Asian American and Pacific Islander History
Content from History.com that includes photographs, videos and stories chronicling AAPI history.
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
This sites hosts online exhibits and collections chronicling Asian/Pacific Islander heritage. It is the result of a collaboration between 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.
Chinese American Museum of Chicago
Virtual Asian American Art Museum

Recommended Print Books

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Call Number: PS3570.A48J62008 Leisure Reading Collection
ISBN: 9780143038092
Publication Date: 2006-09-21
This is the story of four mothers and their daughters-- Chinese-American women, the mothers born in China, and the daughters born in America. Summary taken from book.
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Call Number: PS3562.A316N362004
ISBN: 9780395927212
Publication Date: 2003-09-16
Meet the Ganguli family, new arrivals from Calcutta, trying their best to become Americans even as they pine for home. The name they bestow on their firstborn, Gogol, betrays all the conflicts of honoring tradition in a new world -- conflicts that will haunt Gogol on his own winding path through divided loyalties, comic detours, and wrenching love affairs. The Namesake brilliantly illuminates the immigrant experience and the tangled ties between generations. Summary taken from book.
Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Call Number: PS3569.E3334S53 Leisure Reading Collection
ISBN: 9780812980530
Publication Date: 2010-02-02
May and Pearl, two sisters living in Shanghai in the mid-1930s, are beautiful, sophisticated, and well-educated, but their family is on the verge of bankruptcy. Hoping to improve their social standing, May and Pearl's parents arrange for their daughters to marry Gold Mountain men who have come from Los Angeles to find brides. But when the sisters leave China and arrive at Angel's Island (the Ellis Island of the West) where they are detained, interrogated, and humiliated for months they feel the harsh reality of leaving home. Summary taken from book.
Writing the Ghetto by Yoonmee Chang
Call Number: PS508.A8C532010
ISBN: 9780813548012
Publication Date: 2010-11-30
In the United States, perhaps no minority group is considered as successful as the Asian American community which is often described as residing in positive-sounding "ethnic enclaves, "rather than in "ghettoes. "In this volume, Yoonmee Chang exposes the unspoken class inequalities faced by Asian Americans, while insightfully analyzing the effect such nations have had on their literary voices. Summary taken from book.

The print books can be found on the upper level of Galvin Library. If you need assistance finding a print book on the shelf, stop by the Research Help Desk located at the top of the stairs.

Notable People

Bruno Mars
Grammy award winning singer/songwriter Bruno Mars is a native Hawaiian.
David Chang
David Chang is a Korean American restauranteur, author and television personality.
Judy Hsu
Born in Taiwan Judy Hsu was raised in the Chicago area and attended the University of Illinois. She is an Emmy award winning anchor on Chicago's ABC7.
Steve Aoki
Steve Aoki is a Japanese American DJ, record producer and record executive.
Tammy Duckworth
Tammy Duckworth was born in Thailand to an American father and Thai mother. She is an Iraq war vet and has served as a United States senator from Illinois since 2017.