May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month

The rich legacy of Asian Pacific Americans has strengthened the U.S. as a nation.  Asian Pacific Americans, a term that encompasses many ethnic groups, worked tirelessly to build a national railroad infrastructure, paving the way for western expansion.  The first Asian Pacific Heritage Week was celebrated in 1979, in response to little or no recognition of this population in the 1976 bicentennial celebrations.  By 1990, the celebration was a month long and then made official in 1992.