Library of Congress Establishes Asian Pacific American Collection
Press Release
Contact: Reme Grefalda (703) 276-0427; Judy Lu (202) 707-2385
The Library of Congress hosted a national conference on October 4 and 5, 2007 to establish an Asian Pacific American Collection to be part of the Library’s Asian Division.
The conference at the Whittall Pavilion, Jefferson Building received strong encouragement and support from a number of congressional members, several major Asian Pacific American studies programs across the U.S., and many prominent Asian Pacific American leaders and organizations. The overwhelming enthusiasm expressed by the speakers set the vision of the establishment of the APA Collection in the Library. The audience, which comprised a good mix of APA groups, was inspired by the speeches of the APA scholars and experts, and felt awakened from their personal struggles and experiences in their journeys for establishing their own identity as Asian Pacific Americans in this country.
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao praised the historic undertaking, pointing out that “It is time for a conference like this one. Asians and Pacific Islanders have been coming to America for hundreds of years and are a proud part of the American experience. ... One critical link is between the Library’s collections and the rapidly growing number of Asian American studies programs at American universities.” The Secretary also emphasized that America's “diversity is a core strength.”
Four years prior to this initiative, Dr. Hwa-Wei Lee, Chief of the Asian Division, met Congressman Michael Honda at an Asian American event. During the conversation, Congressman Honda urged Dr. Lee to propose the establishment of an APA collection in the Library. Four years later, this proposal materialized. Undoubtedly, Congressman Honda, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), deserved the honor as the keynote speaker at the conference’s welcoming banquet.
In his speech, Congressman Honda set the tone for this national conference by saying: “I am thrilled that the Library of Congress is taking steps to launch a collection on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. As an educator, I know the importance of teaching our young people the histories of all of America’s diverse communities. By preserving our collective knowledge, we can begin to tell a richer American story, build upon our achievements, and learn from injustices of the past. I look forward to the establishment of the collection and seeing it grow.”
As chair of CAPAC, Rep. Michael Honda commended the attendees for “recognizing the need to develop and coordinate such a national collection.” He added that the collection “is a necessary and appropriate progression for the Library, one that will centralize resources about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.”
Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress opened the first day session welcoming speakers, Congressman David Wu and Congresswoman Mazie Hirono.
Rep. David Wu (Oregon) likened the conference to the 1776 assembly by quoting Thomas Jefferson to an appreciative audience: “You have become in Jefferson’s words ‘a small band of people who [are making] a bold move.’” Recalling personal and family experiences, he emphasized that careful preservation will allow “the complex history of the Asian Pacific American experience to be told and retold for generations to come.”
Rep. Mazie Hirono (Hawai'i) pointed out in her keynote address that “our stories must be collected to make others aware of our presence in this country.” She also emphasized “the very real and meaningful significance of having an Asian Pacific American collection” noting that the addition to the Library of Congress will be “a powerful signal to Asian Pacific Americans and the wider population that we have arrived.”
Both Wu and Hirono, members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, praised the coming together of Asian Studies scholars, researchers and noted members from academe to explore what Dr. Hwa-Wei Lee, Chief of the Asian Division, in his action plan, described as a “national distributed and networked APA collection.” Dr. Lee also announced the active partnership between the Library's Asian Division with the University of Maryland Asian American Studies Program in the future development and direction of the national APA collection.
Dr. Frank Wu, Dean of Wayne State University Law School and formerly of Howard University gave the keynote speech reminding the audience of the racial violence that killed Vincent Chin. He spoke of changing the racial paradigm from just black and white issues to include a “panoramic racial world.” He urged Asian Americans to reject the conventional response to racial issues and instead encouraged the “diversity among us.” Asian Americans have a unique “bridging role” between blacks and whites and should be wary of cultivating an “Anglo-Asian overclass.”
Speakers at the 2-day conference included: Dr. Betty Lee Sung of the Asian American/ Asian Research Institute; Dr. Franklin Odo, Director, Asian Pacific American Program, Smithsonian Institution; Prof. L. Ling-chi Wang of University of California, Berkeley; Prof. Don Nakanishi and Librarian Marjorie Lee of UCLA; Dr. Kent Ono, University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign; Dr. Larry Shinagawa, Director, Asian American Studies, University of Maryland; Prof. Evelyn Hu-deHart of Boston University; Dr. Prema Kurien, Syracuse University; Dr. Krystyn R. Moon, University of Mary Washington; Gen. John Fugh (Ret.) of the Committee of 100; Ms. Ginny Gong and Dr. Michael Lin of the Organization of Chinese Americans; Ms. Katy Goring of the U.S. Indonesian Society; Dr. Juanita Tamayo-Lott and Dr. Jeremy Wu of the U.S. Census Bureau; Dr. Frank Joseph Schulman, President of the Library of Congress Asian Division Friends Society; Ms. Rama Deva of the Indian American community, former publisher of Indic Magazine; and Reme Grefalda, cultural activist from the Filipino American community.
Currently, the Library of Congress houses reference material from various Asian countries, referred to at the conference as “homeland” in contrast with the Asian Pacific American “home grown” resources.
An earnest effort by the Asian Division to compile an Asian Pacific American Resource Guide to the Library’s APA materials was introduced during the conference. Attendees were provided with a CD containing more than 500 pages of bibliographic sources and online accessible items.
Conference attendees were also treated to a Children’s Book Exhibit at the Asian Reading Room entitled “Don’t Worry, Yoshio – You Are an American” featuring a selection of books by Japanese American authors and illustrators.