National Council on Public History

Thank you for your interest in AAPI public history. This 2025 working group session supports the following goals:

• Promote AAPI public history networking and collaboration
• Share resources and support similar efforts
• Identify key issues within AAPI public history
• Facilitate future collaborations and actions 

You are encouraged to add your comments to the many case statements to spark dialogue before the annual meeting. I was inspired by the intellectual power and curiosity of my fellow working group members. Please share:

• Suggestions for important topics and questions to discuss
• Resources you wish to share for others
• Respond to questions and ideas posed by working group members

Please add your comments in the discussion sections below each case statement or on the working group discussion page at https://ncph.org/phc/aapi-public-history-opportunities-and-partnerships-to-grow-the-field/.

Some examples I would like to have discussed:

• How can AAPI museums, historical societies, and public history organizations collaborate more effectively and leverage limited resources?
• What are productive ways Asian American history can complement AAPI studies and Ethnic studies?  
• What are ways to coalition-build towards an national AANHPI museum while respecting the diverse AANHPI histories and cultures?

I recognize the label AAPI public history has some limitations, including a growing Native Hawaiian focus (AANHPI) and our collaboration with Asian Canadian public history colleagues as new partners in our working group. We thank you for your understanding and welcome all perspectives.  

My interest in being a lead facilitator with this working group comes from multiple decades in board and board leadership at the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum (SDCHM) (www.sdchm.org). I supported the museum’s priorities promoting and preserving the history, art, and culture of China and Chinese Americans in the San Diego region, serving as Board Chair, sometimes in an acting ED role, and now as Chair Emeritus. The museum serves unique exhibition, archival, educational, and cultural tourism roles being located in downtown San Diego and adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center. That local experience was instrumental in my interest to promote AAPI history at the national and global levels.  

SDCHM anchors the Old Chinatown in San Diego (1850s) and the Asian Pacific Thematic Historic District (APHD). This city designated historic district also honors the Japanese Nihonmachi, and the historic Filipino Quarter, overlapping with the historic Harlem of the West neighborhood. A digital history project and web-walking tour from earning a Masters degree in history from California State University San Marcos honors the district: https://bit.ly/888APHD 

One effort to promote coalition building was chairing the Sixth Chinese American Studies Conference in 1999 at the University of San Diego, sponsored by SDCHM. The conference brought together 300 attendees from historical museums and societies, scholars, historians, and the community from the US, Canada, Mexico, China, and Japan. Proceedings from this conference are available from Altamira Press.

Other varied experiences that support this working group include the following: Adjunct faculty at San Diego Miramar College (history) and Cal State San Marcos, Chair of the Trustee Engagement Committee for Forever Balboa Park (City of San Diego’s primary park partner), past member Arts and Culture Working Group of the San Diego Foundation, retired as an IT Project manager and Technical Lead from Cal State San Marcos.  

We welcome your input to the case statements before the annual meeting and your attendance at the working group session on Thursday, March 27, 2025.

Discussion