Sharing the stories of Asian American and Pacific Islanders is essential to understanding the complexity and depths of our history. This May, in honor of AAPI Month, we will highlight programs and resources from the RIHS and our community and national partners to highlight jobs and how Asian American and Pacific Island Rhode Islanders have impacted locally, nationally, and globally. This page will continue to be updated throughout the month of May. If you have suggestions of resources to be added to this page, please email communications@rihs.org.
Programs • Educational Resources • Community Organizations
- Saturday, May 3rd, 12-3pm: From Saigon to Solidarity: 50 Years of Southeast Asian and AAPI Communities– Join AAPI History Museum for a vibrant outdoor gathering as we kick off AAPI Heritage Month with exhibits from the AAPI Mobile History Museum, featuring the journeys of Chinese American, Vietnamese American, Korean American, and Cambodian American communities, and many more AAPI history in the brick-and-mortar museum indoors.
- Sunday, May 4th, 6pm: Brown University Bamboo Rhyme Spring Concert 2025– Join Brown University for an unforgettable evening of traditional Chinese music. Experience the enchanting sounds of guzheng, pipa, dizi, erhu, suona, guqin, and more, performed by our talented ensemble of student musicians. Let the rich textures and timeless beauty of Chinese music carry you through a journey of cultural expression and artistic elegance.
- Friday, May 30th, 6pm: AAPI Pop Up Market: Visit Kow Kow ice cream shop (120 Ives St.) on Friday, May 30th at 6pm for a market featuring AAPI businesses in Rhode Island.
- Seeing Providence Chinatown– Jeffrey Yoo Warren uses archival photography and maps to build an immersive digital 3D model of historic downtown Providence Chinatown in this ongoing project
- RI Chinese History Project– A collection of images, memories, and stories of the places that made up Providence’s Chinatown
- Exclusion, Rhode Island, Kinship: Making Your Own Chinese Family a Lecture by John Eng-Wong– Drawing from adoption archives, Chinese Exclusion era documents, memoirs, articles, and interviews with descendants, scholar John Eng-Wong discusses how exclusion unfolded in Rhode Island and illustrates how several Chinese-descent families negotiated these impacts.
- AAPI History Museum– Visit the new AAPI History Museum in Providence. A space where the community can come together and learn about AAPI history, cultures, and impacts on Rhode Island.
- The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center– The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center brings history, art, and culture to you through innovative museum experiences and digital initiatives.
- We Are Not a Stereotype– A video series from The Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. This series explores and challenges the complexity surrounding the term Asian Pacific American, breaking it down into topics that span multiple timelines, geographies, and identities.
- Asian Pacific American Women– A collection from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum focusing on the impact of Asian Pacific American WOmen in all aspects of American life.
- Rhode Island Department of Education Resources on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Studies– A collection of resources from the Department of Education on AAPI history from national, Northeast, and state sources.
- Asian Americans Documentary Series– Asian Americans is a PBS documentary film series. The series tells the history of Asian Americans through intimate and personal narratives. The series provides a lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played in shaping the nation’s story.
- “Never Again is Now”: Incarceration Histories and Solidarity– In this lesson from the Brown University Choices Program, students will use primary sources to compare and contrast Japanese American incarceration in World War II and contemporary migrant detention, assess the role of xenophobia and racism in these case studies, and explore how knowledge of history can inspire activism and build solidarity across communities.
- Cultural Society RI Reading List– The Cultural Society provides teacher resources for the state requirement to provide students with an excellent, well-rounded education that includes the history and culture of AAPI peoples.
- Gilder Lehrman Institute AAPI Reading List– To commemorate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Gilder Lehrman Institute highlights resources for studying AAPI history in America through curated groupings of documents and accompanying materials.
- Smithsonian AAPI Resource List– Smithsonian museums’ share the role Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) have played in our shared history. Explore Smithsonian events happening online and in-person and find resources, podcasts, and collection items to learn more about AANHPI contributions.
- AsianPacificHeritage.gov– The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America’s history and are instrumental in its future success.