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May was formally proclaimed as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in 1992. This month celebrates Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States.
What does that mean? Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island)!
In this guide, you will find free resources, lesson plans, and activities, which are meant for the classroom and can also be explored at home.
To learn about the month, view photographs and videos, and more, visit https://asianpacificheritage.gov/.
Resources from the Smithsonian
Resources from the Smithsonian
Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center: Described as a museum without walls - explore the collections on "APA Education"; "Robots, Clones and Aliens"; "We are not a stereotype"; and "Heritage IRL"
Japanese American Incarceration Era Collection: This collection includes biographies, photos, and images from the 3.5 years of forced incarceration of people of Japanese ancestry who were living along the west coast of the United States. The people incarcerated were U.S. citizens or longtime residents, some of whom served in World War I for the United States (at that time, a person who was born in Japan was unable to ever become a U.S. citizen.)
Lesson Ideas
Lesson Ideas
National Education Association - Teaching Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage: Teacher resources ranging from grades K-12
Standing Together for AAPI Heritage Month: The website provides a treasure trove of associated links and pages at the bottom. Click on each organizations' logo to learn more.
National Portrait Gallery - Portrait Spotlight (Isamu Noguchi): Art Lesson ideas
The National Archives - Chinese Exclusion Broadside Analysis: In this activity, students will go through the process of analyzing a broadside to better understand attitudes towards Chinese and other Asian immigrants in the late 1800s.
National Endowment for the Humanities - BackStory: T o Be a Citizen? The History of Becoming American: In "To Be a Citizen? The History of Becoming American," listeners will learn more about how citizenship has been expanded, limited, challenged, and revoked in the United States.
Resources from the Government
Resources from the Government
Asian Pacific Heritage Month: This Web portal is a collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the 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.
National Archives - Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: The National Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the Asian and Pacific Islander experience, including images, articles, and videos.
National Parks Service - Explore Asian American & Pacific Islander Stories: Learn about Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, a Chinese immigrant and suffragist; the history of the Cherry Blossoms; Places of AAPI History, and more
Resources from PBS
Resources from PBS
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month this May and every day with a special PBS collection of stories that explores the history, traditions and culture of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States.
PBS Kids - 9 Books to Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, PBS KIDS put together a list of favorite books featuring Asian characters, written by Asian authors, or illustrated by Asian artists — all chosen by kids and parents like you! Check out these heartwarming and fun tales with your family at your local public library.
eBooks and Audiobooks via Sora
eBooks and Audiobooks via Sora
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month - A collection of 515 ebooks and 236 audiobooks that celebrate authors and illustrators of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage.
Photographs show portraits of members of the Hawaiian royal family from the House of Kamehameha including Kamamalu, wife of Kamehameha II; Kamehameha III and his wife Kalamo; and Queen Emma, wife of Kamehameha IV and their son Albert Kamehameha with dog outside the royal palace. Circa 1880.
The Library of Congree / via https://www.loc.gov/item/2016651375/
Mural by unknown artist located in Chinatown, San Francisco, California. Carol M. Highsmith, photographer, 2012. (Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/item/2013630054/
Mural by unknown artist located in Chinatown, San Francisco, California. Carol M. Highsmith, photographer, 2012. (Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/item/2013630054/
Filipino lettuce field laborer. Imperial Valley, California. Dorothea Lange, photographer, February, 1939. (Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/item/fsa2000002872/PP/
Filipino lettuce field laborer. Imperial Valley, California. Dorothea Lange, photographer, February, 1939. (Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/item/fsa2000002872/PP/
Members of the PAVA World Korean Traditional Marching Band from Los Angeles pass in the 124th Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Carol M. Highsmith, photographer, January 1, 2013. (Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/item/2013631673/
Members of the PAVA World Korean Traditional Marching Band from Los Angeles pass in the 124th Rose Parade in Pasadena, California. Carol M. Highsmith, photographer, January 1, 2013. (Library of Congress) http://www.loc.gov/item/2013631673/
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