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.
Featured Document for May 2024
The Purple Heart Battalion (in Washington, DC, through May 15, 2024)
Composed of 12,000 Japanese American volunteers and dubbed the “Purple Heart Battalion,” the 442nd Regimental Combat Team is the most decorated American military unit for its size and length of service.
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
Certificate of Identity for actress Anna May Wong. Although she was a third-generation American, exclusionary laws meant that a Chinese person had to certified as eligible for reentry into the United States. View in National Archives Catalog and the Featured Document Display.
Olympic gold medal swimmer and famed surfer Duke Kahanamoku poses with Johnny Weissmuller at Waikiki, Hawaii, August 1927. View in National Archives Catalog
Future actor and martial artist Bruce Lee was born in San Francisco, CA, in 1940. He returned with his parents to China in April 1941, and they filed for a Return Certificate on his behalf, documenting his birth and American citizenship. View in National Archives Catalog
President Gerald R. Ford signs a proclamation in 1976 confirming the termination of Executive Order 9066, which resulted in the incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Among those looking on are Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), Senator Hiram L. Fong (R-Hawaii), Congressman Spark M. Matsunaga (D-Hawaii), and Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink (D-Hawaii). The full list of names is available in the National Archives Catalog.
Astronaut Ellison Onizuka’s first space shuttle flight was on Discovery in January 1985. A year later, on January 28, 1986, he was aboard Challenger when it exploded shortly after liftoff, killing all aboard. View in National Archives Catalog
Renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma plays for President Ronald Reagan, Crown Princess Michiko, Crown Prince Akihito, and First Lady Nancy Reagan at the White House in October 1987. View in National Archives Catalog
Popular Hawaiian singer Don Ho visits Schofield Barracks at Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, April 19, 1990. View in National Archives Catalog
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao meets with restaurant workers in San Francisco, CA, in August 2001. Chao later served as Secretary of Transportation from 2017 to 2021. View in National Archives Catalog
Figure skater Michelle Kwan, a five-time World Champion and two-time Olympic medalist, was appointed as the first American Public Diplomacy Envoy in November 2006. View in National Archives Catalog
Actor George Takei, best known for his role as Mr. Sulu on the original series Star Trek, visited Goddard Space Flight Center on June 3, 2008. View in National Archives Catalog
Actor Kal Penn became Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs in 2009. Here, he and Valerie Jarrett pose with a student at the White House Science Fair. View in National Archives Catalog
On January 20, 2021, Kamala Harris became the first person of Asian descent to be Vice President of the United States. In this picture from 2014, President Barack Obama greets Harris, then California's Attorney General, at a White House meeting on criminal justice. View in National Archives Catalog
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
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