APA Celebrates Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month

The Asian Pacific American Employee Impact Group released a video in recognition of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month — a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States that occurs each May.

The month was established in 1977 by Congress and recognizes the history, culture and important contributions of people from the Asian continent and Pacific islands, including Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).

The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869. The majority of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.