Asian Heritage Celebration: History

Asian Americans are the fastest-growing major racial or ethnic group in the United States. More than 22 million Asians live in the U.S., and almost all trace their roots to specific countries or populations from East and Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data.

This web portal is a collaborative project of the Library of Congress and the National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

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.

The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center shares Asian Pacific American history, art, and culture through innovative museum experiences online and throughout the U.S.

The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center brings history, art and culture to you through innovative museum experiences and digital initiatives.

This guide provides research strategies and pointers to materials available both at the Library of Congress and online.

This collection of resources and lessons are designed for use during and beyond Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Explore their stories and their legacy by visiting the units of the National Park System and other places listed in the National Register of Historic Places, most of which are National Historic Landmarks, throughout the nation featured in this itinerary.

Queen Lili'uokalani was the first sovereign queen, and the last monarch of Hawai'i, who assumed the throne in the midst of a government takeover by American business owners supported by the U.S. military.

Filmmaker Sofian Khan explores the musci of Anik Khan, the Bangladesh-born, Queens, NY-raised hip-hop artist whose music sketches the immigrant experience with rare poetic flare and incisive depth, with a while masala of influences at his fingertips.

Dancer Amit Patel is reinventing Bollywood dance and making space for queer expression in the South Asian community. At 10, he began Bollywood dance training with Mona Khan Company and later started contemporary dance. He realized he could express himself outside of Bollywood’s traditional male roles.