The Training Division and Defender Nation pay tribute to the contributions and dedicated service of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs), past and present, have played in our shared mission and commitment to equal justice under law, during May and throughout the year.
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. Find more information at The Library of Congress.
Additional resources include:
- AsianPacificAmericanHeritage.gov
- Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies
- Chinese American World War II Veterans Project
- Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
- Library of Congress AAPI Collections
- Library of Congress Asian Pacific Americans: Going for Broke
- Library of Congress Law Library - Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
- National Archives AAPI Heritage Month
- National Association of Asian American Professionals
- PBS Asian Americans Docuseries
- Public Broadcasting Service AAPI Specials
- White House Initiative on AAPIs