Asian and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP), a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the history and culture of APIA communities, announced on Friday that the 2024 National APIA Historic Preservation Forum will be held in Seattle in September.
The email announcement stated that Seattle “is home to important institutions such as the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience and the Filipino American National Historical Society, making it an ideal location for this year’s gathering.”
Many of the program activities will take place in the Chinatown-International District, the only area in the continental United States where Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, Blacks, and Vietnamese have settled together and built one neighborhood—but also a site listed last summer as one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s 11 Most Endangered Places in the country.
HING HAY PARK – Huy Pham, former Washington Trust for Historic Preservation staff and now executive director of APIAHiP announced the listing of Seattle’s Chinatown International District on the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Places list in May 2023. (Courtesy of the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation.)
“Seattle has been on APIAHiP’s Forum ‘wishlist’ for a while,” says Huy Pham, executive director of APIAHiP. “With the momentum from last summer’s Most Endangered Places designation, we are excited to not only convene a national audience, but to also build a coalition among APIA communities across the country to address shared challenges and innovations. We aim to both learn from and empower attendees whether they join us locally or arriving across the country and territories.”
Founded in 2007, APIAHiP is committed to the preservation and recognition of Asian and Pacific Islander American histories and cultural heritage in the United States.
For more information on the upcoming forum, visit apiahip.org/forum-2024.