April 21, 2009 Library to Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month will be celebrated by the Library of Congress during the month of May with several events, a display and a web presentation.

With a theme of “Lighting the Past, Present and Future,” these events are free and open to the public; tickets are not required.

Author Svetlana Kim will deliver the keynote address at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 7, in the Mumford Room, located on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building at 101 Independence Ave. S.E., Washington, D.C. Kim will discuss her new book, “White Pearl and I: A Memoir of a Political Refugee,” which describes her journey from Korea to the United States and her rise from poverty to a successful career as a stockbroker. Kim, who arrived in New York in 1991, was inducted into the Asian Academy Hall of Fame in 2008. She shares this honor with former U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and former Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta.

At noon on Tuesday, May 12, a presentation titled “Japanese Illustrators Then and Now” will feature James Miho, a Bauhaus illustrator, and Yuko Ota, a comic illustrator. It will be held in Dining Room C, located on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building.

At 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, a program titled “Who Is Babysitting Whom?” will be held in the Pickford Theater, located on the third floor of the Madison Building. The program, which will explore the Asian tradition of respect for elders, will feature a 22-minute film titled “I Wanna Babysit Lola;” special guest, centenarian Remy Cabacungun; and a display of multigenerational family photos from the Library of Congress Asian American Association.

Hawaiian dancers will perform at noon on Tuesday, May 26, in the Montpelier Room, located on the sixth floor of the Madison Building.

The Library of Congress’s extensive holdings include millions of items pertaining to Asia and Asian Pacific Americans. A display featuring some of these items will be on view throughout May in the foyer of the Madison Building. On May 1, the Library will launch an online resource page at www.loc.gov/topics/asianpacific/.

Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a new, personalized website at myLOC.gov.