Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The National Archives holds a wealth of material documenting the Asian and Pacific Islander experience, and it highlights these resources online, in programs, and through traditional and social media. You can help make more records accessible by becoming a citizen archivist. Find out more about transcribing and tagging Chinese heritage records from the exclusion era.
Genealogy Series
The 2024 Genealogy Series begins May 21 and continues through June 25. Two sessions will examine records relating to immigrants and Japanese Americans.
- June 18 at 1 p.m. ET – Alien Files (A-Files): Researching Immigrant Ancestors at the National Archives
- June 25 at 1 p.m. ET – World War II Enemy Alien Records Related to Japanese Americans at the National Archives
Gallery
Prologue Articles
Broken Blossoms (Spring 2016)
Attachments: Faces and Stories from America's Gates (Summer 2012)
When the "Enemy" Landed at Angel Island (Summer 2009)
Return to Sender: U.S. Censorship of Enemy Alien Mail in World War II (Spring 2001)
An Alleged Wife: One Immigrant in the Chinese Exclusion Era (Spring 2004)
Race, Nationality, and Reality: INS Administration of Racial Provisions in U.S. Immigration and Nationality Law Since 1898 (Summer 2002)
The Past Recaptured? The Photographic Record of the Internment of Japanese-Americans (Summer 1980)
Prologue “Genealogy Notes” on Immigration and Naturalization
Additional Resources
Asian American and Pacific Islander Records at the National Archives
Immigration Records: An Introduction
A-Files: INS Alien Registration Files &
Record Group 566: Records of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, 2003–2004: Alien Case Files, 1944–2009
Restricting Immigration from Asia and the Pacific, 1870s to 1950s
World War II Incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans
Executive Order 9066: Resulting in the Relocation of Japanese (1942)
A letter from Queen Liliuokalani re: annexation of Hawaii
Joint Resolution to Provide for Annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States
Philippine Army and Guerrilla Service Records
The Philippines Archives Collection
Guam-related digital collections at University of Guam made possible through an NHPRC grant.
Education Updates: The Importance of Local Stories: Oregon Students Discover the Courageous Work and Life of Minoru Yasui
Education Updates: Questioning Chinese Exclusion: The “Chinese Village” at the 1899 National Export Exposition
Education Updates: Suspending the Right of Due Process: Japanese-American Relocation during World War II
Education Updates: Primary Sources Show How the Chinese Exclusion Act Was Applied
Forward with Roosevelt: Found in the Archives: 1934 Hawaiian Visit
History Hub: San Francisco INS Office Records
History Hub: Honolulu INS Office Filing System
Hoover Heads: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Not Quite American
Hoover Heads: State Dinner at the Hoover White House for the King and Queen of Siam
The JFK Library Archives: Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month: Searching for a “Hidden Figure”
The JFK Library Archives: Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month: Dalip Singh Saund
The JFK Library Archives: Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month: Solving an Archival Mystery
National Archives News: National Archives at Riverside Collaborates With California Universities to Digitize Chinese Heritage Records
National Archives News: Chinese American Actress’s Story Illustrates ‘Othering’ of Immigrants
National Archives News: After Atlanta Shooting, Author Revisits Killing of Vincent Chin
Pieces of History: Manuel Quezon and the Push for Philippine Independence
Pieces of History: Protesting Statehood: Hawaiian Women’s Petition Against Annexation
Pieces of History: Chinese Exclusion and the 1899 National Export Exposition: Imagining the View from Inside an Ethnographic Showcase
Pieces of History: 19th Amendment at 100: Mabel Ping-Hua Lee
Pieces of History: Asian/Pacific American History: Learning our Legacy
Pieces of History: National Archives-Thai Friendship
Pieces of History: Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files and the USCIS Master Index
Text Message: Sau Ung Loo Chan, An Advocate for American Citizenship and Immigrant Rights, by AANHPI records Subject Matter Expert Ruth Chan
Text Message: The Past is the Present in the Asian American/Pacific Islander Records Aggregation Project
Text Message: Bringing the Past to Light through the Chinese Exclusion Act Case Files
Text Message: Asian/Pacific American History: Learning Our Legacy
Text Message: Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Highlights: Duke Kahanamoku
Text Message: Honoring Notable Asian Pacific Americans for APA Heritage Month
Text Message: James Wong Howe: Hollywood’s Ace Cinematographer
Unwritten Record: Dong Kingman: Watercolor Master
Unwritten Record: Go for Broke: The 442nd Infantry Regiment
Unwritten Record: Korean War Refugees in Signal Corps Films
Unwritten Record: A Colorful Chinese New Year Celebration, 1964
Unwritten Record: Fractured Ideals: Japanese American Internment through a Government Lens
Videos
Author Erika Lee discusses her book The Making of Asian America, October 2, 2015
A Conversation with George Takei: George Takei in Hyde Park, February 19, 2017
Japanese American Internment Teachable Moment video from the FDR Library
Oh, the Stories They Tell: Chinese Exclusion Acts Case Files at the National Archives