National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

A National Historic Landmarks Theme Study

Finding a Path Forward

ASIAN AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER

NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS THEME STUDY

Edited by Franklin Odo
i

Finding a Path Forward

ASIAN AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER

NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS THEME STUDY
ii AAPI National Historic Landmarks Theme Study

Use of ISBN

This is the official U.S. Government edition of this publication and is herein identified to 

certify its authenticity. Use of 978-0-692-92584-3 is for the U.S. Government Publishing 

Office editions only. The Superintendent of Documents of the U.S. Government Publishing Office requests 

that any reprinted edition clearly be labeled a copy of the authentic work with a new ISBN.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Odo, Franklin, editor. | National Historic Landmarks Program (U.S.),

issuing body. | United States. National Park Service.

Title: Finding a Path Forward, Asian American and Pacific Islander National

Historic Landmarks theme study / edited by Franklin Odo.

Other titles: Asian American and Pacific Islander National Historic Landmarks

theme study | National historic landmark theme study.

Description: Washington, D.C. : National Historic Landmarks Program, National

Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, 2017. | Series: A National

Historic Landmarks theme study | Includes bibliographical references and

index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017045212| ISBN 9780692925843 | ISBN 0692925848

Subjects: LCSH: National Historic Landmarks Program (U.S.) | Asian

Americans--History. | Pacific Islander Americans--History. | United

States--History.

Classification: LCC E184.A75 F46 2017 | DDC 973/.0495--dc23 | SUDOC I

29.117:AS 4

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017045212

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800

Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001

ISBN 978-0-692-92584-3
iii

Finding a Path Forward

ASIAN AMERICAN PACIFIC ISLANDER

NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARKS THEME STUDY

Edited by Franklin Odo

A National Historic Landmarks Theme Study 

Published by the National Historic Landmarks Program

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

Washington, D.C.

October 2017
iv AAPI National Historic Landmarks Theme Study

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The contributions and hard work of many individuals were essential for the completion of this Asian American/Pacific Islander National Historic Landmark Theme Study. I need first to acknowledge the writers who 

have contributed to the Theme Study—we all hope it will be used as envisioned: to inspire preservationists, 

historical consultants and community activists, scholars, and students to use our growing scholarship to mark 

our presence in the American experience as it developed within its global setting. The Theme Study was mandated in 2013 by Kenneth Salazar, then-Secretary of the Interior. Stephanie Toothman, the National Park Service Associate Director for Cultural Resources, Partnerships, and Science, provided unfailing support for this 

project.

Barbara Wyatt, National Historic Landmark historian, has been a tireless colleague whose experience 

in bringing publications to fruition was as essential as her remarkable historical training and intelligence. I 

thank her for providing critical and on-going assistance as the National Park Service staff liaison; she helped 

produce the Registration Requirements included here, and was remarkably patient and persistent with publishing snags. Theodora Chang helped keep us on point mid-way through our work. Alexandra Lord, former 

chief of the National Historic Landmark Program, was instrumental in initiating the project and developing 

an organizational framework.

Several students were important to the project. JaMarcus J. Underwood is thanked for his selection of 

the many images in the publication and for organizing their placement in the text. Amherst College students 

Philip Pang and, especially, Ludia Ock, provided assistance with myriad editorial tasks as well as with distribution requirements. The consultants at Marstel-Day, LLC, in particular Kristie Baynard, Paula Bienenfeld, and 

Mark Durante, are thanked for their assistance with the Registration Requirements and Appendix.

The following individuals on the AAPI Advisory Committee served essential roles in structuring the 

theme study, deciding on essay content, and selecting authors. I was pleased to serve as chairman of the group, 

and I appreciate the indispensable work of the committee in framing the theme study and assuring the highest 

quality of scholarship.

AAPI Advisory Committee

Franklin Odo, Chairman, Amherst College

Milton Chen, The George Lucas Educational Foundation

Christine DeLisle, University of Minnesota

Yen Le Espiritu, University of California, San Diego

Donna Graves, Berkeley, California

Robert Hayashi, Amherst College

Michelle G. Magalong, Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation

Martin Manalansan IV, University of Illinois, Champagne-Urbana

Daviana Pômaika`i McGregor, University of Hawai‘i at Mânoa

Konrad Ng, Shangri La: A Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design

Karthick Ramakrishnan, University of California, Riverside

Greg Robinson, University of Quebec at Montreal

Katharya Um, University of California, Berkeley

Barbara L. Voss, Stanford University

Bill Watanabe, Los Angeles, California

Christopher Yip, California Polytechnic State University

Ji-Yeon Yuh, Northwestern University

Helen Zia, Oakland, California
v

The contributions of the AAPI Advisory Committee, staff of the National Park Service, and the administration and student interns of Amherst College were vital to the completion of the Asian American/Pacific 

Islander National Historic Landmark Theme Study, which promises to open new dimensions of AAPI participation in the nation’s historic preservation programs.

Franklin Odo, Editor

Amherst College

Formerly with the Smithsonian Institution

and the Library of Congress

COVER IMAGES

Front cover (clockwise from top right):

Elderly vendors at the Saturday morning market in New Orleans that has been in existence for 30 years. With the gradual passing 

of the elderly Vietnamese American population, the number of vendors and cultivators of vegetables has declined. 

Photo by Christopher A. Airriess, used with permission.

Washington Place, Honolulu, Hawai’i. The palace of Queen Lili‘uokalani when the Hawaiian Kingdom was overthrown, the Greek 

Revival house later served as the official residence of the Governor of Hawai‘i. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 

2007. Photo by Kenneth Hays, 2006; courtesy of the National Historic Landmarks Program.

Anna May Wong, one of the few Asian Americans considered among the most influential actors in U.S. history, appeared in more 

than fifty movies. Photo from the Hawai’i Times Photo Archives Foundation, courtesy of Densho.

Back cover (clockwise from top left):

Typical latte stones found at various historical sites on Guam, including Pågat and Latte Stone Park at Hagåtña. 

Photo by Hajime Nakano; courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, licensed under Creative Commons.

Melchy Billy’s Dance Group entering the stage at the 46th annual Chief Aghurubw Day on Managaha Island, Northern Mariana 

Islands. Chief Aghurubw saved his people after a devastating typhoon, by leading them to the Northern Mariana Islands to 

resettle. The special day of commemoration is considered an integral part of the NMI Refaluwasch culture. 

Photo by Cinta M. Kaipat; used with permission.

San Francisco, California, April 6, 1942. According to the War Relocation Authority photo caption, “The family unit is kept intact 

in various phases of evacuation of persons of Japanese ancestry. Above is a view at Wartime Civil Control Administration station, 

2020 Van Ness Avenue, on April 6, 1942, when the first group of 664 was evacuated from San Francisco. The family unit likewise is 

preserved at War Relocation Authority centers where evacuees will spend the duration.” Photo by Dorothea Lange, courtesy of The 

Library of Congress.

Note: The circular symbols on the cover were derived from motifs found on Asian clothing, ceramics and pottery, and in Asian 

paintings and photos selected for this book.

The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the author and should not be interpreted as representing the 

opinions or policies of the U.S. Government. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute their endorsement 

by the U.S. Government. Furthermore, the researcher agrees to obtain prior government approval from the National Park Service for 

any public information releases concerning this project that refer to the Department of the Interior or any bureau or employee 

(by name or title). The specific text, layout, photographs, etc. of the proposed release must be submitted with the request for 

approval. Such requests for government approval shall be submitted to the Organization of American Historians, who will forward it 

to the appropriate government authority, as laid out in the OAH’s cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.
vi AAPI National Historic Landmarks Theme Study

Introduction

Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans Revisited: 

An Introduction to the National Historic Landmarks Theme Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii

Franklin Odo

Essay 1

Imperialism and Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Gary Y. Okihiro

Essay 2

A Sea of Islands: Early Foundations and Mobilities of Pacific Islanders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Amy Stillman

Essay 3

Archaeological Research on Asian Americans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Douglas E. Ross

Essay 4

Immigration, Exclusion, and Resistance, 1800s-1940s................................... 86

Erika Lee

Essay 5

Establishing Communities, 1848-1941 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Nayan Shah

Essay 6

Reframe, Recognize, and Retell: Asian Americans and National Historic Sites . . . . . . . . . . . . 126

Dorothy Fujita-Rony

Essay 7

Asian American Businesses, 1848 to 2015: Accommodation and Eclectic Innovation........ 140

Lane Ryo Hirabayashi

Essay 8

The Architectural Legacy of Japanese America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Gail Dubrow

Essay 9

Sites of Resistance to Imperialism....................................................188

Davianna Pômaika‘i McGregor

Essay 10

Asian Americans and World War II.................................................. 204

Brian Niiya

TABLE OF CONTENTS
vii

Essay 11

Asian Americans: The Cold War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Rick Baldoz

Essay 12

Pacific Islanders in the U.S. and their Heritage: Making Visible the Visibly Absent . . . . . . . . . 234

Kelly G. Marsh and Tiara R. Na’puti

Essay 13

Asian Americans and Cultural Retention/Assimilation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254

Mary Yu Danico

Essay 14

Asian American Activism and Civic Participation: 

Battling for Political Rights and Citizenship, 1917 to the Present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Daryl Joji Maeda

Essay 15

Asian Immigrants and Refugees: 

Demographic Transformations in the United States from World War II to the Present . . . . . 284

Linda Trinh Võ

Essay 16

New Asian American Communities: Building and Dismantling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306

Catherine Ceniza Choy

Essay 17

AAPI Political Mobilization and Participation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326

Kim Geron

Appendix 1

Registration Requirements for Designating AAPI Properties 

National Historic Landmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340

Appendix 2

AAPI National Historic Landmarks 

Study List........................................................................ 382

Appendix 3

Sources of Information about AAPI Cultural Resources................................ 390

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394