AAPI Heritage Month

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, an annual celebration of the contributions of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The month celebrates all of the Asian continent and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month originally began as a weeklong celebration from May 4 to May 10 in 1979. This specific week was chosen with the intention of commemorating the 7th and 10th of May. These dates are significant as May 7, 1843, is the day noted as the immigration of the first Japanese person to the United States. May 10th was also chosen to be commemorated during this week as this was the anniversary of the transcontinental railroad’s completion in 1896, a project where the majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

The celebration became a month-long observance in 1990 when Congress passed a law extending the observance. In 1992, May was officially designated Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.