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Asian American Studies Resource Guide: Home

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

"Like most commemorative months, Asian-Pacific Heritage Month originated in a congressional bill. In June 1977, Reps. Frank Horton of New York and Norman Y. Mineta of California introduced a House resolution that called upon the president to proclaim the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. The following month, senators Daniel Inouye and Spark Matsunaga introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Both were passed. On October 5, 1978, President Jimmy Carter signed a Joint Resolution designating the annual celebration. Twelve years later, President George H.W. Bush signed an extension making the week-long celebration into a month-long celebration. In 1992, the official designation of May as Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month was signed into law.

The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants."

(Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The Library of Congress, 2008. Web. 23 Aug. 2011.)

Introduction

This guide provides selected information resources that focus on the experiences and culture of Asian Americans.

Courses on Asian American topics are included in Suffolk University's Asian Studies Minor and the Rosenberg Institute for East Asian Studies.

Information about Asian and Asian American student clubs at Suffolk University can be found at International and Cross Cultural Organizations.

 

(Book cover: When half is whole : multiethnic Asian American identities / Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 2012. Located on Sawyer Library's 4th floor, call number E184.A75 M87 2012.)

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Sarah Griffis
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