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Individuals from Asia, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities play an important role in shaping our country – from advocating for labor law change to popularizing surfing. But the stories of many of these people and their achievements are often left unchanged and unknown.
Help highlight the legacy of some inspiring numbers of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) that you and your students may not be familiar with. While this is by no means a comprehensive list, feel free to use it as a starting point for the Asian/Pacific Heritage Month course in May and beyond.
Duke Kahanamoku, father of modern surfing
Duke Boa Casino Moko Holikohola Kahanamoku is a competitive swimmer, a leader in sports and one of the most famous Pacific Islanders. Kahanamoku was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and is a five-time Olympic medalist in swimming. After his record-breaking and barrier-breaking sports career, Kahanamoku helped promote Hawaii surfing to a new generation of surfers around the world.
Politician Dalip Singh Saund
Born and raised in Punjab, Dalip Singh Saund enrolled in 1920 at the University of California, Berkeley and received his Ph.D. in Mathematics. In the 1940s, he organized a successful effort to convince the U.S. Congress to pass the Luce-Celler Act of 1946, which granted Indian immigrants the right to become naturalized American citizens.
After becoming a citizen himself, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1956, becoming the first Asian American and the first Sikh to serve in Congress. During his three term, he was a champion of small farmers and civil rights legislation and worked to improve U.S. relations with India and Mexico.
Larry Itliong, the leader of labor
Larry Itliong is a Filipino-American organizer and community leader who plays a major role in the farm labor movement. He was known in the 1960s for leading the way with Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta.
The five-year strike was one of the most critical labor movements in American history, ultimately leading to the formation of agricultural workers and joint farm workers for better salaries and benefits. California officially celebrates Oct. 25 as “Larry Itliong Day” in honor of his fight for social and economic justice.
Marine biologist Isabella aiona Abbot
During her long and successful career as a scientist, writer and university professor, Dr. Isabella Aiona Abbott broke many obstacles. She is considered the first Hawaiian native to earn a PhD in science, and the first person of color to become a full professor in the Department of Biology at Stanford University.
Throughout her career, she worked hard to discover the historical uses of marine algae and find ways to reintroduce seaweed into daily life. The famous Hawaiian is believed to have discovered more than 200 different algae species, many of which are named after her. After teaching for more than two decades at Stanford, she retired and pursued her second career, where she worked as a professor of botany at the University of Hawaii.
Patsy Mink, politician
Patsy Matsu takemoto Mink is a Japanese-American, born and raised in Maui. When Hawaii became a state in 1959, Mink decided to run for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Despite her unsuccessful congressional campaign, she ran and won again in 1964, making her the first woman of color and the first Asian American to serve in Congress.
During her years in the House, she played a role in writing bills such as Title IX (Based on Gender Discrimination in Higher Education), the Early Childhood Education Act and the Women’s Education Equity Act.
Michelle Yeoh, actress
Actress Michelle Yeoh is the first Asian woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress and is known for her role in infusing martial arts. Born to a wealthy Malaysian family, Yeoh started his career as a ballerina and was then crowned Miss Malaysia in 1983.
In the next few years, she became one of the top female action stars in the film industry, for example Never die tomorrow and Squat tiger, hidden dragon. Her latest performance Crazy Rich Asians and It’s everywhere at once For this, she won an Academy Award – highlighting a wave of films for Asian American talent in Hollywood.
Cecilia Chung, civil rights activist
Cecilia Chung is an internationally recognized civil rights leader and social justice advocate. Chung was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to San Francisco as a teenager. Through her advocacy and philanthropy work, she has established leadership voices for anti-discrimination, trans rights, and HIV/AIDS education and awareness.
Jhumpa Lahiri, author (born 1967)
Jhumpa Lahiri is an award-winning writer whose work has been widely celebrated for portraying the experience of immigrants in East India. In 1999, she made her debut in the field of publishing with a collection of short stories. Interpreter of diseaseand won the Pulitzer Prize. She followed up with her first novel in 2003 The same name, And return to the short story with #1 New York Times Bestseller The earth that is not used to.
Her novels, lowland, Inspired by part of the real world political activity and won the finalist for the Booker Award and National Novel Award. Since moving to Italy in 2011, she has published two books and a novel, in Italian, and has translated some of her own works and other authors’ works into English.
5 activities about AAPI people
Knowing how to teach Asian Pacific Heritage and famous AAPI characters is a great start! (But using resources created by Asian and Pacific teacher authors is even better!)
Famous Asian American Pacific Islander Coloring Pages and Posters
Happy days to first grade
Level: Prek-2nd
Topics: Art, Asian Studies, Social Studies
The resource includes image and biographical information, including Amy Tan, Maya Lin and Dalip Singh Saund. It also includes posters for teaching and displaying classrooms.
Asian Pacific Heritage Month Influential People Poster and Good Fruit
Real life in the classroom
Results: 1-6
Topic: American History, Writing
This set of 36 report dishes is perfect for creating a diversity bulletin board to celebrate Asia/Pacific Heritage Month. It comes with a project tracker, research task annotation page, and step-by-step instructions.
Asian Heritage Month Freebies – Including Assessment
Teach it through my phone
Results: 4th to 8th
Topic: Asian Studies, Information Text
The collection can be used as a Google Slide or PDF, including information about famous figures of Asian descent and an overview of biographical projects with tagline evaluations.
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Announcement Board – AAPI Poster
In the creative classroom
Grades 6 to 9
Topic: Asian Studies, Writing
Standard: CCSS RI.6.1, 6.4, 6.7
Create a fascinating bulletin board with these 42 compelling posters with thought-provoking quotes to inspire students’ curiosity and make them think critically! Each poster focuses on AAPI individuals and includes a hot question. Question types include analysis, connection, inference, comparison, and controversy.
Asian Pacific Heritage (Daily) Google Classroom and PDF
By Adrienne Wiggins
Level: Not specific
Topic: Social Research
This slide includes 30 people’s mini biography with pictures, video links, books or article suggestions, and everyone’s response tips or questions. Cover a slide every day at the morning meeting in class, or assign slides to students in Google classrooms where they can share ideas and answers.
Where to study AAPI people
If you want to read more about individuals in this post (or study more people from Asia, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities), check out these sites:
Discover more resources for Asia/Pacific American Heritage Month on TPT
While May is the Asian/Pacific Heritage Month in the United States and Canada, there are many influential Asians around the world to celebrate. Explore the AAPI Legacy Month resources on TPT to discover people you may have never heard of affecting your life today.
