Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders Important to U.S. History

Young Chinese-American girls wait to perform a traditional Chinese dance at an Asian cultural festival in Wayland, Massachusetts, in 2007.

Washington — U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell May 9 underscored the importance of recognizing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders’ contributions to the United States’ rich heritage.

She lauded efforts to commemorate and interpret Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) culture and history, particularly through the National Park Service, in order to tell a more complete story of the United States.

“Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have long been leaders in every aspect of our social fabric — in government, business, science, medicine, the arts, education and our armed forces,” Jewell said, according to a Department of the Interior press release of the same date.

“From Angel Island, where more than 1 million Asian immigrants arrived on these shores, to the Chinese immigrants who helped build the railroads across the country, to the Japanese American internment camps of World War II, these stories are all important threads in the great American tapestry.”

Jewell spoke at a White House forum that was hosted by the Interior Department, along with the White House Office of Public Engagement and the White House AAPI Initiative. The forum attracted scholars and other leaders from the AAPI community to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, observed in May, and discuss the National Park Service’s new Asian American Pacific Islander Theme Study.

Under the leadership of Franklin Odo, former head of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, scholars are developing a theme study and other materials over the next 18 months to further the understanding of how the National Park Service might appropriately identify and understand AAPI heritage and culture.

“The Asian American Pacific Islander Theme Study is an important first step in what must be a longer journey to more completely document and preserve Asian American Pacific Islander heritage sites across our country,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.

“The National Park Service remains committed that our parks and historic preservation programs reflect the diversity of the American experience, and this study will allow us to add to the growing body of resources that tell the AAPI story,” Jarvis said.

Jewell said the theme study is part of an overall effort by the Obama administration to commemorate the contributions of women and minorities that have been not been fully recognized in the past.

“This is a pivotal moment for our community — the National Park Service AAPI Theme Study is an invitation for all of us to share the incredible contributions we have made to our country's rich cultural and natural heritage,” said Rhea Suh, Interior Department assistant secretary for policy, management and budget. “I am proud and honored to be part of Interior's efforts to build a department that reflects the needs and diversity of America and look forward to continuing this conversation.”

Jewell highlighted steps that have already been taken to represent a more inclusive story of the AAPI contributions to U.S. history. These include the designation earlier in 2013 of the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle as an affiliated area of the National Park System, which recognizes the national significance and mission of the museum.

Jewell also recognized the Interior Department’s distinct responsibility, through the Office of Insular Affairs, to work with the United States’ island areas to empower them and to help find solutions to their most pressing challenges.

“The federal government, under this administration, through its various initiatives, is working daily to find innovative approaches to highlight and showcase some of our unique cultural sites and historic artifacts that celebrate Americans in and from the Asia-Pacific region,” said Eileen Sobeck, acting deputy assistant secretary for insular affairs.

“In many ways our gathering is a reflection of our commitment to this initiative,” Sobeck said, “but also a demonstration of our collective duty to holistically represent and celebrate peoples from Asian-American Pacific Islander identities.”