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The Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Experience

Explore our collection featuring a selection of films documenting the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Experience — along with articles, digital shorts and original features exploring America’s continued struggle with democracy, inclusion and justice for AANHPI Americans, and celebrating their contributions to the American story.

Celebrate

Films

  • The Cancer Detectives poster image The Cancer Detectives
    Film

    The Cancer Detectives

    The Cancer Detectives tells the untold story of the first-ever war on cancer and the coalition of people who fought tirelessly to save women from cervical cancer—which was once the number one cancer killer of women.

  • Mr. Tornado poster image Mr. Tornado
    Film

    Mr. Tornado

    Mr. Tornado is the remarkable story of the man whose groundbreaking work in research and applied science saved thousands of lives and helped Americans prepare for and respond to dangerous weather phenomena.

  • The Chinese Exclusion Act poster image The Chinese Exclusion Act
    A Special Presentation of American Experience

    The Chinese Exclusion Act

    The 1882 law that made it illegal for Chinese workers to come to America and for Chinese nationals already here ever to become U.S. citizens.

  • Plague at the Golden Gate poster image Plague at the Golden Gate
    Film

    Plague at the Golden Gate

    Follow the gripping story of the race against time to save San Francisco and the nation from an outbreak of bubonic plague in 1900.

  • Daughter from Danang poster image Daughter from Danang
    Film

    Daughter from Danang

    Daughter From Danang cuts between mother and daughter as the two recall the pain of their separation, and retraces Hiep's journey from Vietnam to Pulaski, Tennessee, where she is adopted by a single woman and renamed Heidi.

  • The Island Murder poster image The Island Murder
    Film

    The Island Murder

    In 1931, Honolulu's tropical tranquility was shattered when a young Navy wife made an allegation of rape against five nonwhite islanders.

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  • poster image Audio
    Last Days in Vietnam | Audio

    The First Days Story Project

    American Experience partnered with StoryCorps to collect, preserve, and celebrate the stories of Vietnamese American refugees and Vietnam veterans. 

  • poster image Digital Short
    Plague at the Golden Gate | Digital Short

    Ng Poon Chew

    Ng Poon Chew was a writer, a publisher and an advocate for Chinese American civil rights.

  • poster image Clip
    The Chinese Exclusion Act | Clip

    The Roots of Anti-Asian Hate in America

    Historian Erica Lee, actor Hoon Lee, and filmmaker Li-Shin Yu speak with executive director of the Center for Asian American Media Stephen Gong about America’s history of discrimination against Asian Americans, and ways that the AAPI community, their allies, and elected officials can work to put an end to racial violence and discrimination.

  • poster image Image Gallery
    The Chinese Exclusion Act | Image Gallery

    Impact on Chinese Immigrants

    The 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act remained in force for more than 60 years.

  • poster image Digital Short
    Digital Short

    Suzanne Lee & Howard Wong

    In the summer of 1974, Suzanne Lee was a first-year teacher living in Boston’s Chinatown and Howard Wong was an 11-year-old middle schooler. They remembered when the notice for desegregation first came, and how it eventually led to a Chinese student boycott of Boston schools.

  • poster image Digital Short
    Plague at the Golden Gate | Digital Short

    The Chinese Six Companies

    On May 28, 1900, San Francisco policemen formed a perimeter around Chinatown, and set about building an eight-foot high wall around the district using cement blocks and barbed wire.

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