Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP) held the 2018 National APIA Historic Preservation Forum, held on November 10-13, 2018 in San Francisco, CA.

At this forum, we celebrated the debut of the National Parks Service’s Asian American Pacific Islander National Historic Landmarks Theme Study. Initiated in 2013 by then-Secretary of the Interior Kenneth Salazar, the theme study will be a guiding instrument in preserving APIA cultural and historical sites that will hopefully encourage the nomination of APIA-related sites into the National Historic Landmarks program.

With the theme study in hand, the 2018 Forum was designed to address the need to support historic and cultural preservation efforts that are important for APIAs by bringing together experts in preservation, community development, history, and the arts with community groups, practitioners, and students.

At our 5th biennial gathering, we highlighted the diversity of APIA history and historic preservation efforts in San Francisco and throughout the US with local, state, and federal partners. Attendees enjoyed educational panels, advocacy training, tours of historic sites and neighborhoods, film screenings, and group discussions about the diverse stories of APIAs in US history and in historic preservation efforts.