Celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is being celebrated in May. The annual observation recognizes the contributions of the nation’s 20 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

About 49,400 Postal Service employees — approximately 7.8 percent of the postal workforce — identify as being Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

Congress designated May as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in 1992. The observance marks the May 1843 arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to the United States, and the May 1869 completion of the transcontinental railroad. Most of the workers who laid the tracks were Chinese immigrants.

Earlier this year, the Postal Service released its Year of the Rat stamp. The rat is the first of the 12 zodiac animal signs associated with the Chinese lunar calendar. The Year of the Rat began January 25, 2020 and ends February 11, 2021.