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  Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month

An act of Congress in 1990 established May as Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, honoring the achievements of Asian-Pacific Americans and their contributions to U.S. history. According to the Library of Congress, the month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion on May 10, 1869 of the transcontinental railroad, which was constructed by a workforce of  mostly Chinese immigrants. However, there is much more to the rich history of Asian-Pacific Americans in America than these two events.

During Asian-Pacific Heritage Month, you may wish to visit the following U.S. government websites to learn more about the heritage of Asian-Pacific Americans and their place in U.S. history:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/04/20070426-11.html

http://free.ed.gov/subjects.cfm?subject_id=117&res_feature_request=1

http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/heritage_month/apahm07/event_calendar.html

http://www.loc.gov/topics/asianpacific/about/

FMCS celebrates the diversity and strength of our work force by observing calendar events that memorialize the examples of leadership, accomplishment and sacrifice in our nation’s cultural and ethnic heritage.  In June, we will be observing Caribbean-American Heritage Month.