#FlashbackFriday: Photos From The Exchange’s 1st Celebration of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week
The roots of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, which lasts throughout May, date back to 1977, when U.S. Rep. Frank Horton of New York introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives to proclaim the first 10 days in May as Pacific/Asian American Heritage Week. In the same year, Daniel Inouye, a longtime senator from Hawaii, introduced a similar resolution in the Senate.
Neither passed, but in June 1978, Horton introduced a new resolution proposing that the president should “proclaim a week … during the first ten days in May of 1979 as ‘Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week.’” The resolution was passed by the House and then the Senate and was signed by President Jimmy Carter on Oct. 5, 1978. This law amended the original language of the bill and directed the president to issue a proclamation for the “seven-day period beginning on May 4, 1979, as ‘Asian-Pacific American Heritage Week.’”
The Exchange, which has a deep history in Asia and the Pacific—some of the earliest post exchanges were in Hawaii, where a PX opened at Camp McKinley in 1898, and the Philippines, where exchanges were established as early as 1903—embraced Pacific/Asian American Heritage Week. The first examples in the Exchange Post are in a two-page spread in the July 1980 edition. Below are some photos from that issue.
At the Bolling AFB Exchange, the celebration included a performance by Kotobuki Kai dancers, who performed for about 200 customers. Other activities at Bolling included a special lunch for main store associates, displays of Asian arts and crafts, a sale of Asian giftware and more.
At the Oakland Distribution Center, distribution clerk Estrella Jones helped her teammates celebrate by demonstrating her skills at gourmet Filipino cooking.
Pacific-Asian American Heritage Week committee members from Capitol Exchange Region headquarters and the Washington Area put together a 150-item display representing the cultures of China, Japan, India, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Throughout the Exchange system, associates celebrated Asian and Pacific cultures by wearing native clothing—such as the Korean dress worn by these Golden Gate Exchange Region associates.
In 1990, Congress passed a bill that expanded the observance to a month for 1990. In 1992, Congress followed up with a bill that annually designated May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month. Exchanges worldwide continue to honor Asian and Pacific cultures, such as in the photo below from 2023 (for a Flickr album of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month from 2023, click here).
Pictured: Dancers at Kadena Air Base’s 2023 celebration of Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month.
Exchange special emphasis program AAPEX (AAFES Asian Pacific Exchange) is dedicated to enhancing awareness of Asian and Pacific cultures and more, including making the Exchange the employer of choice for Asian and Pacific Islander Americans. To learn more about AAPEX, go here.
Hello this is Christy from Redstone MCS. this was a wonderful article.
I just were wondering if you knew about the PX in Taiwan back in the day? A ship would come in once a month from the U.S. bring supplies. The Americans that lived there had to buy enough groceries for one month. We had a freezer for milk, bread, and parishables.
My story is here if you were interested in the life and times of a well kept secret which is now at the Taiwan Cultural Museum. Type in your Google, Foot Steps in Taiwan and you will understand.
Also here is a story I wrote a few years back that has the PX/Commisary, type in Google, “MAAG in the South – A Youngster Remembers.” If nothing else it is a good read.
Hi, Christy,
Thanks for the kind words and thanks for the additional information. I found both stories (link to Footsteps here and to Christy’s story “MAAG in the South–a Youngster Remembers” here). Thanks for sharing!
Vr,
Robert Philpot
The Exchange Post