A|P|A Histories

Welcome to the A|P|A Histories web site!

This site is a public site for and about Asian Pacific American history. Produced by the Asian Pacific American History Collective, the site presents Asian Pacific American history as it is currently conceived and understood by scholars and others working on the subject. It contains many materials including interpretative essays, historical episodes, original documents and objects (in electronic form), and supplemental resources such as chronologies, bibliographies, teaching lessons, and links to other web sites.

There is no single way to approach the information and knowledge presented here since the purpose is to allow visitors to explore the site in their own fashion and at their own pace. However, the site is organized into different sections that reflect the kinds of historical information presented: histories, episodes, materials, resources, and comments (with a final section for credits). For visitors who prefer the broad sweep of history and arguments that stimulate, we suggest one of four interpretative histories on: Empire, the Body, Culture, and Borders/Boundaries.

And for those visitors who prefer suggestions, here is the beginning of one of our historical episodes . . .

Evil “Oriental” villains You sense he is there lurking in the shadows, just beyond the periphery of your watching eye. Even if one could catch a glimpse of him, he is still only visible to the trained eye. You can't exactly say why, but you know that he is responsible for the dread and threat you have felt as soon you entered this dark, unknown terrain. Nevertheless, you proceed into unknown danger . . . . . .