Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Welcome

Like most commemorative months, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month originated with Congress. In 1977 Reps. Frank Horton of New York introduced House Joint Resolution 540 to proclaim the first ten days in May as Pacific/Asian American Heritage Week. In the same year, Senator Daniel Inouye introduced a similar resolution, Senate Joint Resolution 72. Neither of these resolutions passed, so in June 1978, Rep. Horton introduced House Joint Resolution 1007. This joint resolution was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Jimmy Carter on October 5, 1978. During the next decade, presidents passed annual proclamations for Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week until 1990 when Congress passed Public Law 101-283 (PDF, 166kb) which expanded the observance to a month for 1990. Then in 1992, Congress passed Public Law 102-450 (PDF, 285kb) which annually designated May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. 

Here are a few examples of books from our library that you could use to research topics on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander heritage and experience. 

Use these library databases to explore topics on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander heritage.