Welcome to the MCPHS Libraries' Asian/Pacific American (AAPI) Heritage Month LibGuide!
Accordiing to AsianPacificHeritage.gov, AAPI:
"...encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of 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)."
As of the 2020 U.S. Census, there were about 20.6 million people of Asian or Pacific Islander descent in the United States. According to the Pew Research Center, AAPI people are a diverse and growing population that make up about 7 percent of the total U.S. population
Here, you'll find information and resources related to this diverse group's contributions to history, with a focus on their impact in medicine and other health sciences. If you have any questions or think something is missing, please contact the Library!
Like most commemorative months, Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month originated with Congress. In 1977, both Reps. Frank Horton and Senator Daniel Inouye introduced a similar resolutions to establish a Pacific/Asian American Heritage Week in May. A joint resolution was signed 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 expanded the observance to a month for 1990 (officially designated to be May in 1992).
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.
This guide highlights resources in MCPHS's collection. Some of those items are physical books and others are eBooks. You may also be able to find these resources in a local library.
Want to sign up for a Boston Public Library eCard? Not eligible for a Boston Public Library eCard? Find these items in your local library in WorldCat.
