Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM), officially proclaimed "Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month" by President Barack Obama, is a celebration of the culture, traditions, and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

Congress passed a joint Congressional Resolution in 1978 to commemorate Asian American Heritage Week during the first week of May. This month was chosen because two important anniversaries occurred during this time: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in America on May 7, 1843, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad (by many Chinese laborers) on May 10, 1869.

In 1990, Congress voted to expand it from a week to a month-long celebration, and in May 1992, the month of May was permanently designated as "Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month."

An Asian-Pacific Islander is currently defined by the U.S. Department of Labor as: "A person with origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, or the Pacific Islands. This area includes, for example, China, Japan, Korea, the Philippine Republic and Samoa; and on the Indian Subcontinent, includes India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan."

Students can learn more about the heritage of Asian Pacific Islander Americans. Assign student to write a report of at least 100 words (or a presentation of at least five slides) that cites at least three resources from the Pathfinder listed below.

Students should address the following essential questions for critical thinking (you can add or substitute others):

• Who are the four largest ethnic groups that are known as Asian Americans?
  
  
• How do these ethnic groups compare in terms of culture and religion?
  
  
• What famous people come from each group—name two and what they do in each group?
  
  
• How did each group contribute to the accepted and mainstream culture of America?

Select the Subject Headings search option > Type Asian Americans in the Search box

Your students can use our custom ProQuest models for written and PowerPoint-style reports.

Teachers may be interested in a ProQuest flexible rubrics model for evaluating inquiry-based learning activities.

Educators may also wish to employ the Quizinator Web tool (free, but registration required) for creating a variety of printed resources, including short assessments.