Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2025

During the entire month of May, look for a display of books by Virginia Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans across from the Circulation desk on the second floor. Most of the books will be fiction—including some juvenile and young adult literature—but you will also find poetry, a memoir, and a non-fiction book on Asian American race relations. Virginia residents with a valid Library of Virginia library card will be able to check these books out from the Library.

Starting on May 12, on either side of the book display, there will be a two-case exhibit on the World War II military naturalizations of Norfolk residents Ow Chuck Sam and Henry Hong Fong. The Nationality Act of 1940 and the Second War Powers Act of 1942 allowed for an expedited naturalization process for those who served honorably as members of the U.S. military or naval forces. Ow and Fong are just two of the 110,678 members of the armed forces who became naturalized citizens of the United States between March 27, 1942, and June 30, 1945. Given the provisions of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, they were—along with World War I veterans beginning in 1935—among the first Chinese Americans to naturalize. Civilians were not permitted to naturalize until after the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act on December 17, 1943.

On Wednesday, May 14, look for an Uncommonwealth blog post about Leon Zapanta, a Filipino American whose recently digitized naturalization records are dated 1860, thirty years before Ramon Reyes Lala, who is generally believe to be the first naturalized Filipino American Citizen circa 1892.

On Wednesday, May 21, look for an Uncommonwealth blog post about Governor Linwood Holton’s April 1972 trade mission to Japan, which was the first such mission to East Asia taken by a Virginia governor. The 25-member delegation focused its efforts on the Virginia Port Authority, industrial development, and agriculture, and met with Japanese business and government leaders to strengthen Virginia’s ties to Japan, including expanding current business ties and creating new ones. Immediate results included the purchase of 800,000 pounds of chicken from the Shenandoah Valley and a strong chance that Japanese shipping companies would begin to ship to the United States via Hampton Roads and that Japanese assembly plants would be built in the state.

On Wednesday, May 28, look for a blog post about the early Chinese American community in Richmond, both immigrant and native-born, and the effects that federal policies such as the Chinese Exclusion Act had on their everyday lives and movements. Although put in place primarily to limit Chinese laborers immigrating to the West Coast, the legal restrictions and convoluted bureaucracy kept American citizens from traveling to China, and in at least one case, caused difficulties for a 13-year-old Chinese-American boy returning home to his family in Richmond.

Throughout the year, our APIDA Resources web page provides helpful links and lists of resources for researching Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans in Virginia.