May is Asian/Pacific Island American Heritage Month

One of the things that I truly love about working here at The Children's Inn is that we have so many opportunities to meet people from other cultures and learn about them. This month is Asian/Pacific Island American Heritage Month and I just wanted to post a few fun facts to keep our community informed.

I know that we have some families with this heritage out there. I would love to see you post your replies here!

Fun Facts:

When they first arrived in the United States, Asian (usually Chinese) immigrants were welcomed, or at least tolerated. After the California gold rush brought thousands of Chinese to California, however, Asian immigrants faced restrictive laws and occasional violence. In the late 1800s Chinese, and eventually other Asians, were excluded from citizenship. These laws were repealed during World War II, followed by further immigration-law changes, making it easier for Asians to enter the United States.

Today, Asian immigrants have a high rate of assimilation and participation in the American mosaic.

Asian-American Firsts: Government
* U.S. representative: Dalip Singh Saund, 1956, representative from California. The first female Asian American elected to Congress was Patsy Takemoto Mink, elected in 1964 as a representative from Hawaii.
* U.S. senator: Hiram Fong, 1959, one of Hawaii's first two senators.
* Federal court judge: Herbert Choy, 1971, appointed to the U.S. court of appeals for the ninth circuit.
* U.S. ambassador: Julia Chang Bloch, 1989, appointed ambassador to the Kingdom of Nepal.
* State legislator: Wing F. Ong, 1946, elected to the Arizona House of Representatives.
* Governor: George R. Ariyoshi, 1974, governor of Hawaii. The first on the mainland was Gary Locke, elected governor of Washington in 1996.
* Mayor of a major U.S. city: Norman Yoshio Mineta, 1971, in San Jose, California.
* Member of presidential cabinet: Norman Yoshio Mineta, 2000, appointed secretary of commerce. In 2001, he became the first cabinet member to switch directly from a Democratic to Republican cabinet—becoming secretary of transportation—and the only Democrat in George W. Bush's cabinet. The first female Asian-American cabinet member was Elaine Chao, appointed secretary of labor in 2001.

Asian-American Firsts: Aviation
* Female aviator: Katherine Sui Fun Cheung, licensed in 1932.
* Astronaut (in space): Ellison Onizuka, first spaceflight in 1985. Died in the 1986 Challenger disaster.

Asian-American Firsts: Science and Medicine
* Isolated epinephrine (adrenaline) from the suprarenal gland: Jokichi Takamine, 1901.
* Invented pulse transfer controlling device leading to magnetic core memory: An Wang, 1949.
* Cloned the AIDS virus: Flossie Wong-Staal, 1984.

Asian-American Firsts: Film and Television
* Movie star: Anna May Wong, who starred in the 1921 film Bits of Life and many other movies.
* Academy Award winner: Haing Ngor, Best Supporting Actor of 1984 for his role in The Killing Fields
* Host of own network TV series: Anna May Wong, 1951, The Gallery of Madame Liu Tsong
* Star of own network sitcom: Pat Morita, 1976, Mr. T and Tina

Asian-American Firsts: News Reporting
* First network news reporters: Ken Kashiwahara and Connie Chung, 1974. In 1993, Chung became the first Asian American to be a nightly news anchor for a major network (CBS).
* First anchor of a national radio program: Emil Guillermo, 1989, host of NPR's All Things Considered.

Asian-American Firsts: Other
* First to command a combat battalion: Young Oak Kim, of the 100th Infantry Battalion, 1943.
* First selected in the first round of NFL draft: Eugene Chung, 1992, selected by New England.