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Asian Pacific Americans have played a crucial role in American history—as scientists, soldiers, farmworkers, astronauts, governors and senators, and ordinary citizens.
The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program (APAP) strives to deepen the public’s understanding of the history and culture of Asian Pacific Americans through Smithsonian exhibitions, programs, and research and works to empower APA communities with a deeper sense of inclusion within our national culture.
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In 2003, APAP presented the exhibition Through My Father’s Eyes: The Filipino American Photographs of Richardo Ocreto Alvarado at the Museum and sponsored four related programs, ranging from panel discussions to a jazz performance by the Susie Ibarra Jazz Trio. The same year, the Museum hosted four programs commemorating the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first significant group of Korean immigrants in the United States. Other public programs have included book signings, scholarly discussions, musical performances, film premieres, and interviews.
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Singgalot: Ties That Bind
As a part of the yearlong Filipino American Centennial Commemoration, the exhibition, Singgalot: Ties That Bind, was displayed at the S. Dillon Ripley Center at the Smithsonian Institution from May 17 to August 20, 2006. Curated by Dr. Dean Alegado of the University of Hawaii and Dr. Franklin Odo of the Smithsonian Institution, the exhibition documents the Filipino American experience over the last century, from early migration to the diversity of contemporary life and communities. Through some 100 photo murals and images, this exhibition explores the challenges and issues that confronted Filipinos from the annexation of the Philippines as a U.S. colony in 1898 to their struggles to acquire full U.S. citizenship during the 20th century. The exhibition highlights their contributions to the development of Hawaii, the agribusiness industry on the West Coast, the seafood and cannery industries in Alaska, the U.S. military, public service, literature and the arts, sports, and health care. The exhibition will be on display at the Bishop Museum in Hawai`i from September 30 to November 26, 2006. Then it will go on a national tour for three years.
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The Vietnamese American Heritage Project
The Vietnamese American Heritage Project is a historic effort to commemorate the thirty years of mass Vietnamese migration to the United States that began three decades ago in 1975, following the Vietnam-U.S. War. Now Vietnamese Americans are among the largest Asian ethnic groups in the United States, with substantial communities established throughout the nation. The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program embarks on an ambitious project that will include a middle school curriculum guide, the first national traveling exhibition on the Vietnamese American community and its history, as well as related public programming. The Smithsonian APA Program plans to open the exhibition to the public in late 2006.
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Contact
APAP Phone: 202-633-3595
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