APIAHiP was formed in 2007 when Asian and Pacific Islander American leaders practicing historic preservation and heritage conservation noticed a lack of representation at state and national convenings in those fields. With this gap, those founding members developed an API Caucus at the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s annual conference the same year.
In June 2010, the API Caucus developed and hosted the first Asian Pacific Islander American National Historic Preservation Forum in San Francisco, California. This Forum brought together for the first time Asian and Pacific Islander Americans across the United States and its territories to share various issues and approaches to recognizing, preserving, and celebrating the places that best tell the stories of not only our diaspora but also our shared heritage.
By September 2023, with generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Humanities in Place program, APIAHiP was able to hire for the first time full-time staff to carry on the mission and legacy set forth by its founders, board members, volunteers, supporters, and partners from around the world.
Today, APIAHiP is a multi-generational, pan-ethnic, and interdisciplinary community of preservationists, urban planners, historians, educators, activists, and advocates who share the common goal of elevating Asian and Pacific Islander American history and heritage through a place-based ethic.