| Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month It's May! And in the U.S. that means it's AAPI Heritage Month, dedicated to celebrating the culture, history, and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The earliest known Asian immigrants arrived in what's now the United States in 1587. They sailed from the Philippines to California's coast. Later, Filipino sailors settled just outside New Orleans, Louisiana, in the 18th century, creating what's believed to be the oldest Asian American settlement in the U.S. But immigration from Asia to the U.S. didn't really pick up steam until the 1800s. For the first half of the 19th century, Japan remained isolated from much of the world. That began to change on May 7, 1843, the day that a 14-year-old fisherman named Manjiro stepped off a whaling ship and onto U.S. soil, becoming the first Japanese person to immigrate to the country. When an American whaling ship visited the island to collect some sea turtles, its captain, William Whitfield, invited Manjiro aboard. Whitfield later brought Manjiro home to Massachusetts, where he lived for a while before returning to Japan in 1852 as an adult. Celebrate AAPI month and check out these titles |
