NEW CUMBERLAND, Pennsylvania –
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month takes place in May. It celebrates the culture, traditions and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. 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.
In June 1977, the United States House of Representatives proclaimed the first ten days of May as Asian-Pacific Heritage Week. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate a month later. President Jimmy Carter signed a resolution for the celebration on October 5, 1978.
In 1990, George H.W. Bush signed a bill passed by Congress to extend Asian-American Heritage Week to a month. May was officially designated as Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month two years later. On May 1, 2009 President Obama issued Presidential Proclamation which recalls the challenges faced by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and celebrates their great and significant contributions to our society.
DLA Distribution will be celebrating the culture, traditions and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with a program being held on Thursday, May 26, 2016. We will have the great pleasure of having a speaker from the Pennsylvania Governor’s office. Tiffany Chang Lawson, the Executive Director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, provides strategic development for the Commission which is comprised of 30 Commissioners that have been appointed by Governor Wolf from across Pennsylvania.
The Commission is the state’s advocate agency for the diverse Asian Pacific American communities across the Commonwealth and Ms. Lawson travels across Pennsylvania to meet with community organizations, local, state and federal agencies.
Please plan to join us in the Building 54 auditorium on Thursday, May 26 from 0930-1030 to welcome Ms. Lawson as she speaks to us about the culture, traditions and history of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.