📌APIA Every Day (306) - Anzen, previously known as the Teikoku Company, was Portland’s oldest Japanese grocery and retail store. Initially established in Japantown (Nihonmachi) by Mosaburo Matsushima in 1905, it remained an essential shopping destination for the local Japanese community for over a century. Although Anzen moved from its historic location in the Merchant Block in the mid-1940s, the building still stands as a testament to early Japanese American history in Portland today.

Mosaburo Matsushima, who immigrated to Oregon from Okayama, Japan, originally opened his store under the name Matsushima Shoten. In 1911, six years after opening, Matsushima renamed his business the Teikoku Company, stocking a variety of goods for Japanese laborers, including canned food, hats, and caulk boots. At the same time, the shop became an agent of Yokohama Bank enabling Japanese immigrants to send money to their families in Japan. In the 1920s, Matsushima’s nephew and son, Umata Yasui Matsushima and Ayao Matsushima, took over the store’s management. During this time, the family inhabited and maintained the Merchant Hotel (then known as the Teikoku Hotel), which operated on the floors above the store and served as a boarding house for immigrants. 

In the 1940s, Umata assumed full control of the business as the rest of the family returned to Japan. Aside from managing the storefront in Portland, he also traveled throughout the Pacific Northwest, delivering goods to Japanese laborers working in canneries and lumber camps. In 1941, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Portland officials began closing Japanese-owned businesses around the city. Umata, in his position as the owner of the Teikoku Company, was arrested and sent to various detention centers around the country. The store was closed and his wife Fumi and their two children were incarcerated at the Minidoka Camp in Idaho. 

After returning to Portland in 1946, the Matsushima family reopened their business near its original Japantown location. Due to concerns over the name “Teikoku” (which translates to “imperial”), the city government prohibited them from reopening under the same name. Instead Umata established the new store as Anzen, a word meaning “safety.” In 1968, Anzen moved to a new location in Portland's Lloyd District. Umata's sons, Yoji and Hiroshi, took over the business, continuing to sell Japanese foods, home goods, medicine, and books.

In 1975, the Merchant Hotel, the original location of the Teikoku Company Store, was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Portland Skidmore/Old Town Historic District. In 2014, after 109 years of operation, Yoji and Hiroshi Matsushima retired, and Anzen closed its doors. Although Anzen is no longer in business today, its legacy is embodied at the site of the original Teikoku Company which is now home to Goodies Snack Shop, an Asian food store established in 2022. While this marks a new beginning for the historic Merchant Building, Anzen continues to be remembered as a beloved community shopping destination by the Portland community. 

📌 APIA Every Day (305) - The Yuri Kochiyama House in Harlem, New York City, is a historically significant site located at 168 W 126th Street, in the heart of one of America’s most influential cultural and political neighborhoods. Harlem, known for its deep connections to the Civil Rights Movement, Black Power Movement, and artistic renaissance periods, became home to Yuri Kochiyama and her family in the 1960s. Situated near key landmarks such as the Apollo Theater and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Kochiyama House served not only as a family residence, but a robust hub for radical grassroots political organizing. The location placed Kochiyama at the crossroads of major social justice movements, allowing her to engage with activists, intellectuals, and organizers working to advance racial and economic justice. The physical structure of the house itself may appear unassuming, but its historical significance stems from the transformative activism that took place within its walls.

Yuri Kochiyama, a Japanese American activist who had been incarcerated in a World War II incarceration camp, dedicated her life to fighting for civil rights, labor justice, anti-imperialism, and Black liberation. After moving to Harlem, she became deeply involved in grassroots organizing, supporting movements for Puerto Rican independence, reparations for Japanese American incarceration histories, and justice for political prisoners. She famously worked alongside Malcolm X, whom she met through Harlem’s activism networks, and was present at the Audubon Ballroom when he was assassinated in 1965. The Kochiyama House became a meeting place for activists and a site for radical political discussions, where community members organized efforts against systemic oppression. Her work in Harlem bridged struggles between Black, Asian, and other marginalized communities, making her home a key symbol of solidarity and resistance.

Today, there are ongoing efforts to preserve the historical legacy of the Yuri Kochiyama House and ensure her contributions to activism and the Harlem community are remembered such as painting murals in her honor. The Kochiyama house is often highlighted in walking tours and educational programs focused on Harlem’s radical history. While the house itself remains a private residence, its significance as a gathering place for civil rights struggles underscores the importance of preserving such spaces that connect past movements to present-day social justice efforts.

📌 APIA Every Day (304) - ​​Detroit, Michigan, has had two distinct Historic Chinatowns. The first Chinatown was established in the early 20th century along Third Avenue and Michigan Avenue, near downtown Detroit. This area became a cultural and economic hub for Chinese immigrants. However, due to urban renewal projects in the 1950s and 1960s, many residents and businesses were displaced, leading to the development of a second Chinatown in the 1960s, located along Cass Avenue near Peterboro Street. This newer Chinatown served as the center of the Chinese American community for several decades, but with continued urban redevelopment and much of the Chinese population dispersal to suburban areas such as Madison Heights and Troy, it too saw a decline by the late 20th century. Today, remnants of Detroit’s Chinatowns can still be seen in the architectural elements and signage that remain in these respective neighborhoods.

Chinese immigrants established small businesses beginning in the early 1900s, primarily laundries and restaurants, in order to sustain their newly resettled lives in Detroit. Despite facing racial discrimination and exclusion from many industries, the Chinese American community in Detroit maintained a strong sense of cultural identity and solidarity. The growth of the automobile industry in the early 20th century attracted more Chinese immigrants, along with other Asian ethnicities, to the city. 

Efforts to preserve the history of Detroit’s Chinatowns are ongoing, as community organizations, leaders, and state representatives collaborate to maintain what little is left of Detroit’s Chinatown. In recent years, there have been initiatives to install historical markers and restore significant buildings in the Cass Corridor area to acknowledge the contributions of Chinese immigrants to Detroit’s urban development. For example, in summer 2024, one million dollars in the state’s budget was earmarked to preserve Chinatown community infrastructure and histories.

📌 APIA Every Day (303) - The Agaña Historic District, located in the capital city of Hagåtña, Guam, is a significant cultural and historical area that reflects the island’s diverse past. The district itself is composed of several historically significant structures, including Spanish-era buildings, remnants of pre-colonial CHamorro settlements, and American-era infrastructure. The 2-acre Historic District consists of the following five buildings: the Calvo-Torres, Rosario, Martinez-Notley, Lujan and Leon Guerrero houses. These five buildings are some of Guam’s oldest standing buildings and represent how the island has changed over time. 

The history of the Agaña Historic District is deeply intertwined with Guam’s broader history, which spans thousands of years and includes Indigenous CHamorro society, Spanish and American colonialism, as well as Japanese occupation during World War II. Before European contact, the area that is now Hagåtña was a significant settlement for the CHamorro people, who established fishing and agricultural communities. In the 17th century, Spanish colonizers made Hagåtña the capital of the Marianas, introducing Christianity and European architectural influences. Following the Spanish-American War in 1898, Guam became a U.S. territory, and Hagåtña evolved under American administration. During World War II, the now-Historic District suffered extensive destruction due to Japanese occupation and subsequent U.S. military bombardment during the island’s liberation in 1944. The post-war reconstruction reshaped Hagåtña, but remnants of its colonial past remain as a testament to its historical significance.

In 1985, the Agaña Historic District was officially added to the National Register of Historic Places. Restoration projects focus on revitalizing Spanish-era structures, maintaining Indigenous CHamorro architectural elements, and promoting overall public awareness of the area’s historical significance in the context of Guam’s history. Community engagement programs, heritage tours, and educational initiatives further contribute to preservation efforts by fostering appreciation and understanding for the district’s legacies. 

📌 APIA Every Day (302) - Boston's Little Syria, also known as Syriatown, was a vibrant immigrant enclave that flourished between the 1880s and 1950s. Located in the areas now encompassing Chinatown and the South End, this neighborhood became home to a significant population of Arabic-speaking immigrants from the SWANA (Southwest Asian North African) region, notably Syria and Lebanon. Centered around streets like Hudson Street and Tyler Street, the Syrian community established a rich cultural and economic presence characterized by bustling businesses and textile industries, peddling economies, religious institutions, and social organizations that reflected their Arab heritage. 

The formation of Little Syria was closely linked to the wave of immigration from the Ottoman province of Greater Syria during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Seeking better economic opportunities and escaping political unrest, many Syrians and Lebanese settled in Boston, attracted by the city's industrial growth and economic opportunities. Among the notable figures was Hannah Sabbagh Shakir, a Lebanese-American businesswoman who co-founded the Syrian Ladies' Aid Society of Boston in 1917. This organization played a crucial role in supporting immigrants by providing essential services and building community. 

While much of the physical landscape of Syriatown has been demolished due to urban renewal and the expansion of Boston’s Chinatown, public history-based preservation efforts ensure that the contributions of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants remain an integral part of the city’s immigration histories. The Boston Little Syria Project, a public history initiative, aims to preserve the little-known history of this once-thriving neighborhood through walking tours, exhibitions, and collaborations with local organizations such as universities and historical associations.

📌APIA Every Day (301) - The Honoka’a People’s Theatre, located on the Big Island of Hawai’i, was established in 1930 by Japanese immigrant Hatsuzo Tanimoto. At a time when local entertainment catered mostly to single men, the theatre provided a space for families to enjoy live shows and films together. For decades, it served as the cultural heart of Honoka’a, serving as a significant gathering space for Japanese, Filipino, and Native Hawaiian communities on the island to enjoy cultural entertainment. 

In the early 1920s, there was a marked period of increased theater construction across the Hawaiian Islands. It was during this time that Hatsuzo Tanimoto initially bought land for the People’s Theatre in 1929. It opened the following year with 650 seats and dedicated spaces for an auditorium and performance stage. Eventually Tanimoto’s son, Christian Yoshimi Tanimoto, took over booking movies and devised a schedule where the theatre showed Japanese films on Mondays, Filipino films on Tuesdays, and family entertainment on the weekends. At this time, Christian and his wife Peggy Tanimoto lived in an apartment above the theatre. Peggy, active in the Honoka’a community, would organize various live performances at the theatre and around town, including classical Japanese dances and Hula presentations.

In the 1980s and ‘90s, following Christian’s death, the People’s Theatre struggled to stay open and went through multiple management changes. After manager James Carvalho retired, Dr. Tawn Keeney, a local physician, leased the theatre in 1982. With Peggy’s passing and the brief closure of the theatre, Keeney bought the property in 1990 and began renovations to restore the aging building. Three years later, the theatre reopened with an updated screen, sound system, and modernized facilities while also retaining its old 35mm film projectors. 

In the 2000s, events like the annual Hāmākua Music Festival helped to revitalize use of the theatre, bringing musicians from all over the region to perform. Around this time, Lanakila Mangauil founded a hula halau (hula school) in the building and The Honoka’a Community Theatre Group began writing plays for original live shows. However, in 2014, the theatre faced the possibility of closure as Hollywood shifted away from producing movies in a 35mm film format. In response, over 500 local families raised $120,000 to buy a new digital projector for the auditorium, saving the theatre. 

The Honoka’a People’s Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2015 in recognition of its cultural importance to the local community. Now a 525-seat venue with an expanded stage, it continues to show films, host musical performances, and organize cultural events.  Recently in 2024, the theatre screened a documentary highlighting the region’s plantation history during Honoka’a’s inaugural Hāmākua Sugar Days Festival.

📌APIA Every Day (300) - The Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) Building was constructed in 1911 in Portland’s New Chinatown District (APIA Every Day 33). Like other CCBA branches across the nation, the Oregon organization was committed to fighting discrimination against Chinese community members and businesses. As a major governing body in Chinatown, the CCBA managed the district’s primary social, educational, and political affairs. The Oregon CCBA building has served as the organization’s headquarters for over a century and has remained a central institution in Portland’s Chinatown from its founding to present day. 

Eight years after the first CCBA was formally established in San Francisco, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Portland formed circa 1890. One of the organization’s earliest initiatives was the creation of the Portland Chinese Language School in 1901—a program that still exists today. As the CCBA grew, community members formed the Chinese Conservative Investment Company in 1910 to raise funds for a new association space. The following year, the Company successfully purchased an empty lot and Chinese laborers constructed the present four-story CCBA Building. Over the next few decades, the building took on the role of an informal city hall and became an important gathering space for the Chinese community. During this era, the president of the CCBA was often referred to as the “Mayor of Chinatown.”

In the 1970s, the CCBA began raising funds for the building’s renovation to update the existing facilities. Around the same time, the organization established the Chinatown Development Committee to help revitalize the entire district. Between 1979 and 1981, the CCBA Building was restored with donations from the Republic of China and the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office. With its updated headquarters, the CCBA and Portland Development Commission turned their attention to reviving Chinatown: installing Chinese street signs, decorative lamp posts, and a Chinese Gateway in the neighborhood during the 1980s. 

Recognizing the importance of the CCBA Building in the development of Portland's Chinese community, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Portland New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District in 1989. More than a century after its establishment, the Oregon CCBA continues to support the local Chinese community while also promoting greater appreciation for the Chinatown district. The upper floors of the CCBA Building now house an English-Chinese library and a museum, welcoming visitors to explore the history of Chinese Americans in the area.

📌APIA Every Day (299) - Houston’s Thai Xuan Village, founded in 1993, is an apartment complex that has historically been home to the city's Vietnamese community. After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, waves of Vietnamese refugees immigrated to the United States in the 1970s and ‘80s. Many of these immigrants settled around Gulf Coast cities in order to find working class jobs that didn’t require English proficiency. With its rapidly growing Vietnamese population, Houston in particular became home to a number of residential communities like Thai Xuan Village. Over time, these housing complexes became informal community spaces for Vietnamese refugees to connect and preserve their shared culture. 

The Thai Xuan Village complex was originally constructed in 1976 under the name of Cavalier Apartments. Father John Chinh Tran, a Vietnamese Catholic priest, later bought the complex in 1993 and renamed it Thai Xuan after his old village near Saigon. Tran invited local Vietnamese refugees to occupy the building and units of the complex were sold as condominiums in 1966. During the next 15 years, the complex faced issues of proper maintenance as the building conditions deteriorated. Following complaints from neighboring community members, city officials threatened the complex with demolition in 2007. In response, the residents formed a tenant organization and successfully raised $250,000 for building repairs over a period of two years. 

Safe from demolition threats, Village residents continued to cultivate a dynamic community space. Over the years, former apartment units functioned as hair salons, schools, and stores selling basic necessities. Microfarms growing various Vietnamese fruits and vegetables began springing from fenced yards and balcony spaces. In the complex’s courtyards, both a Virgin Mary statue and Buddhist shrine were dedicated to serve the community’s primary religious affiliations.

Three decades after Father Tran’s arrival, Thai Xuan Village remains a lively apartment complex today, housing as many as 1,000 individual residents. A testament to organic community-building, the Village represents the Houston Vietnamese population’s success in fostering a sense of belonging in an unfamiliar country. 

📌APIA Every Day (298) - The Vedanta Society of Portland was established in 1925 and its first informal temple was dedicated in 1934. The society is one branch of a larger religious organization that was originally founded in New York by Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th century. The Portland society would eventually organize efforts to dedicate a formal temple on a rural property in the neighboring city of Scappoose in 1954—constructing the first official Vedic temple in the Pacific Northwest. 

Swami Prabhavananda, the founder of the Vedanta Society’s Portland chapter, immigrated to the U.S. from India in 1923. Initially assisting the Vedanta Society of San Francisco (APIA Every Day 110), he moved to Oregon in 1925 and held public lectures discussing Vedantic philosophy. Prior to having an established temple space, these lectures and meetings would be held in various buildings around Portland. It wasn’t until 1934, following the arrival of Swami Devatmananda in 1932, that the first permanent location for the society was purchased near the city’s Hillside neighborhood. It was also around this time that the society acquired its 120-acre property in Scappoose for its future Retreat property: otherwise known as the Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama. Once a clear-cut lot, volunteer labor over the years from society members transformed it into a lush forested trail. 

In 1943, on the 50th anniversary of the Vedanta Movement in America, the Portland society moved from its old temple house to a new property near Portland State University. In the same decade, construction on the Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama Temple in Scappoose was underway and completed in 1954. When Portland State University claimed the society’s old meeting space for an expansion project, the present center in Portland’s Mt. Tabor neighborhood was purchased and dedicated in 1968. The existing single-family home on the site was remodelled to accommodate a central worship space, a library, and classrooms.

Since its initial foundation a century ago, the Vedanta Society of Portland remains active today, hosting religious services, organizing youth forums, and offering spiritual lectures at its main Portland location. Members also continue to participate in festivals like the annual Interfaith Celebration on July 4th at the society’s Retreat location in Scappoose. In 2020, an adjacent 169 acres of land at the Ashrama location was purchased by the society, leaving room for future expansion.

📌APIA Every Day (297) - The Garnier Building, constructed in 1890, is the oldest remaining building from Los Angeles’ original Chinatown district and the oldest surviving historic Chinese structure in a major city of California. The building was an important political, economic, and social center for the local Chinese community for much of the early 20th century. Serving as the early headquarters of organizations like the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA), it was informally regarded as the old Chinatown district’s city hall. 

The Garnier Building was originally constructed by a French businessman, Philippe Garnier, and was designed primarily for Chinese business tenants in the area. A collection of various Chinese associations, businesses, religious spaces, and schools were located inside. The building's layout reflected traditional Chinese spatial hierarchies, with spaces of authority placed on the upper floors, closer to the heavens. Following this idea, churches and schools were located on the second story while the ground floor was occupied by commercial spaces. Aside from the CCBA, other notable tenants included The Chinese American Citizens Alliance, the Sun Wing Wo Company merchandise store, and The Wong Ha Christian Chinese Missions School. Many of these establishments are still active in Los Angeles today. 

Once it was occupied in the 1890s, Chinese tenants remained continuous inhabitants of the building for a period of six decades until the 1950s. Beginning in 1933, the Los Angeles city government started evicting Chinese Americans from the old Chinatown district in the interest of advancing transportation developments like the construction of Union Station. Demolishing much of Chinatown in the process, only the Garnier Building was left standing. In the 1950s, however, the southern half of the building was torn down to accommodate the new Hollywood/Santa Ana freeway. In the aftermath, the building was largely abandoned. 

In acknowledgment of the Garnier Building’s significance to the early Chinese community and the city’s old Chinatown, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 as part of the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District.In 2003, after 20 years of community planning and activism, the Chinese American Museum (CAM) officially opened in the vacant building. The first institution of its kind in Southern California, the CAM continues to preserve and highlight the historical legacy of Chinese Americans in Los Angeles.

📌 APIA Every Day (296) - Glad Day Bookshop, though primarily known as the oldest LGBTQ+ bookstore in North America with its origins in Toronto, played a crucial role in developing Boston’s queer Asian community. Located in downtown Boston on 43 Winter Street, during the late 20th century, the bookstore served as more than just a retail space—it became a gathering place for marginalized groups seeking representation and community. They relocated the bookstore because the initial location on 22 Bromfield Street ended up being destroyed by acts of homophobic violence. Situated in an era when queer Asian Americans faced both racial and sexuality marginalization, the Glad Day Bookshop provided a rare and affirming environment where individuals could find literature, resources, and connections tailored to their intersectional identities.

The history of Glad Day Bookshop in Boston is deeply intertwined with the rise of LGBTQ+ activism and the formation of identity-based organizations. In the 1980s and 1990s, as the queer rights movement gained momentum, many Asian Americans in the queer community struggled with dual forms of invisibility—within broader Asian American spaces that often upheld traditional values around gender and sexuality as well as within mainstream LGBTQ+ circles that were predominantly white. The bookshop became a crucial space for addressing these challenges, offering books by and about queer Asian voices, hosting discussions, and connecting individuals who felt isolated. Over time, it served as an incubator for advocacy, helping to inspire the formation of the group, Boston Asian Gay Men and Lesbians (BAGMAL) in 1979, dedicated to building out a community that met the specific needs of Boston’s emerging queer Asian population. BAGMAL ran a newsletter series and organized many social events around the queer Asian identity in the Boston area. The organization continues to exist today, although in a much smaller capacity.  

The significance of Glad Day Bookshop extends beyond its role as a bookstore; it was a catalyst for cultural and political change. Creating a space where queer Asian individuals could see themselves represented in literature, it helped validate and empower their identities. While the bookstore itself may no longer exist in Boston, its legacy lives on in the ongoing fight for intersectional representation and inclusion within both the LGBTQ+ and Asian American communities, as well as social movements. Given that this bookstore no longer exists today, how might historic preservation practices expand to include queer Asian American and Pacific Islander histories, where LGBTQ+ sites important to queer history often faced threats of displacement from urban renewal projects and were targets for homophobic violence.

📌 APIA Every Day (295) - Philadelphia's Little Saigon is located in the heart of South Philadelphia, specifically in the neighborhood of Passyunk Square. This vibrant neighborhood is home to one of the largest Vietnamese communities on the East Coast, known for its bustling markets, authentic restaurants, and cultural institutions that reflect the heritage of its residents. The area is a dynamic commercial corridor featuring Vietnamese-owned businesses, including mall plazas, grocery stores, and restaurants, which serve as cultural anchors for both the local Vietnamese American population and the broader Philadelphia community.

The development of Little Saigon is closely tied to the resettlement of Vietnamese refugees following the Vietnam War. After the fall of Saigon in 1975, thousands of Vietnamese refugees arrived in the United States, many of whom passed through resettlement centers like Fort Indiantown Gap in Pennsylvania (APIA Every Day 104). Over time, Philadelphia became a preferred destination due to its affordability and the availability of jobs in manufacturing and small business sectors. By the 1980s and 1990s, the Vietnamese community had firmly established itself along Washington Avenue, transforming the area into a thriving cultural and economic hub that continues to grow today.

Efforts to preserve the historical and cultural significance of Little Saigon have been ongoing through community advocacy. Community organizations and artists have worked to document and celebrate the neighborhood’s heritage through oral histories, cultural festivals, and other place-based initiatives aimed at anchoring the Vietnamese diasporic community in Philadelphia. More recently, residents and activists organized for the protection of the ethnic enclave from gentrification and displacement, ensuring that Little Saigon’s presence remains visible. 

While Little Saigon has evolved over the past few decades, these community-led preservation efforts continue to highlight the importance of recognizing and safeguarding its role as a center for Vietnamese American identity in Philadelphia. Given that Southeast Asian refugee communities like Vietnamese Americans in Philadelphia have settled in the past forty years, we reflect on whether and how historic preservation practices are prepared to recognize these neighborhoods as significant narratives of larger American historic landscapes.

📌 APIA Every Day (294) - Providence’s Historic Chinatown was a small but significant immigrant community located in the downtown area near Empire and Westminster Streets. Established in the late 19th century, this enclave emerged as Chinese immigrants, many of whom had initially arrived in the United States to work on the railroads and in mining, moved eastward in search of new opportunities and escape harsh racial violence. Providence, a thriving industrial city at the time, attracted Chinese laborers who found work in laundries, restaurants, and small businesses. Unlike larger Chinatowns in cities like San Francisco, New York, and Boston, Providence’s Chinatown remained relatively small, but it served as an essential hub for Chinese immigrants in Rhode Island and the surrounding New England region.

The history of Chinatown in Providence reflects broader patterns of Chinese immigration and exclusion in the United States. The first Chinese immigrants began settling in the city during the 1880s, despite growing anti-Chinese sentiment and restrictive immigration laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The community developed a network of businesses, social organizations, and mutual aid societies that provided support to residents facing discrimination and economic hardship. However, by the early 20th century, Chinatown began to decline due to increasing legal restrictions, racial hostility, and urban development projects that displaced Chinese-owned businesses. By the mid-20th century, much of Providence’s Chinatown had disappeared, with its former residents dispersing to other areas or assimilating into the broader population.

Although Providence’s Chinatown is no longer a distinct neighborhood, its historical significance remains. It was one of the earliest Chinese communities in New England, contributing to the region’s cultural and economic diversity. The Chinese-American presence in Providence helped shape the city's culinary landscape, introducing Chinese cuisine to Rhode Islanders long before it became mainstream in American culture. 

The alleyway between Empire and Walnut Street in downtown Providence is the only infrastructure to remain from the former Chinatown neighborhood. Today, efforts to recognize and preserve the history of Providence’s Chinatown continue, with universities, artists, and community organizations spearheading creative public history initiatives that restore this overlooked chapter in Providence’s immigrant history. Given that Providence Chinatown history has largely been forgotten, how might historic preservation practices expand to include Asian histories where, instead of officially designated Chinatowns, small, dispersed Chinese communities existed and contributed to local economies and culture?

📌 APIA Every Day (293) - Once a thriving immigrant enclave in Lower Manhattan, Little Syria was located along Washington Street, stretching roughly from Battery Park to Rector Street. This neighborhood emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a center for Arab immigrants from the SWANA (South West Asian North African) region who were escaping economic hardship and seeking new opportunities in America. Situated near the bustling docks of the Hudson River, Little Syria was well-placed for new arrivals who found work as merchants, peddlers, and factory workers. The neighborhood’s proximity to other immigrant communities, including Irish and Italian enclaves, made it a melting pot of cultures in New York City’s rapidly expanding urban landscape.

The history of Little Syria is deeply tied to the waves of SWANA immigration that began in the 1880s. Many of its residents were Christians fleeing the Ottoman Empire, though Muslim and Jewish immigrants also settled in the neighborhood. The community quickly became known for its vibrant commercial and cultural life, with numerous Arabic-language newspapers, bookstores, coffeehouses, and textile shops. However, by the mid-20th century, much of Little Syria was lost due to urban renewal projects, including the construction of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel in the 1940s and, later, the development of the World Trade Center in the 1960s. As a result, many families relocated to other parts of the city, particularly Brooklyn and New Jersey, displacing the once-tight-knit community.

Little Syria left a lasting historical and cultural legacy in New York City despite its physical disappearance. One of its most enduring contributions was the establishment of Arabic-language journalism in the United States, shaping early Arab-American discourse. The neighborhood was also home to prominent figures like the writer and poet Kahlil Gibran, whose work The Prophet remains one of the most celebrated books in modern literature. While most of the original buildings have been demolished, three buildings remain, specifically the St. George’s Syrian Catholic Church, which serves as a rare architectural link to the once-thriving community. In 2009, St. George’s Syrian Catholic Church won landmark status from New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. The other two remaining buildings of Little Syria include the tenement building located on 109 Washington Street and the Downtown Community House, which previously housed a medical center, a nursery, and a library. Today, efforts by historians and preservation organizations such as the Washington Street Historical Society continue to raise awareness of Little Syria’s importance in shaping New York’s diverse immigrant history.

📌APIA Every Day (292) - The Arizona Buddhist Temple, with congregational roots in 1933, is the oldest Buddhist temple established in the state. Founded by Japanese Americans who migrated from California to work on farms around Phoenix, the temple follows the Jodo Shinshu school of Buddhism. Through times of racial strife and discrimination in the 20th century, the temple served as a social and cultural haven for Arizona’s Japanese American community. 

Before establishing a permanent worship space, Reverend Hozen Seki—a Buddhist minister from Los Angeles—conducted the congregation’s earliest services on Hitoshi Yamamoto’s farm in Glendale. Many of the temple's enduring social programs, including the Sunday school, annual Obon festival, and Fujinkai (women's organization), were established during this time. In 1936, the community constructed and dedicated a formal temple building in Phoenix. Due to Arizona's Alien Land Laws, the first-generation Japanese American community members (issei) had to purchase land through their citizen children (nisei). The temple site encompassed both a hondo (worship hall) and living quarters for the Reverend and his family.

During World War II, the temple remained closed as Japanese Americans were forced into incarceration camps, though many continued their religious practices within Arizona's detention centers. In 1945, the temple reopened with the return of Rev. Seki and the Phoenix Japanese community. During this time, the temple offered  temporary housing and social assistance to community members who had lost their homes and businesses during incarceration. In 1957, when an accidental fire destroyed the temple, temporary services were held in barracks relocated from the Gila River Detention Center. In 1961, a new temple complex was completed south of the original location, featuring a hondo, residential quarters, and classrooms. 

In 2024, the temple celebrated its 90th anniversary and commemorated the resilience of the Phoenix Japanese American community. Though the congregation remains active, there are concerns over its aging membership and potential future decline. Despite these challenges, the temple community continues to persist, now offering services in English instead of Japanese to welcome younger generations and new outside members to the congregation.

📌APIA Every Day (291) - The Kubota Garden in Seattle was established by first-generation Japanese immigrant Fujitaro Kubota in 1927. Representing over half a century of dedicated work by Kubota and his family, it stands as one of the earliest examples of a Japanese-style garden cultivated by an immigrant in the U.S. Rather than imitating landscapes in Japan, the design of the Kubota Garden adapts traditional Japanese aesthetics to its Pacific Northwest environment. Symbolic of the Japanese American immigrant experience, this garden has long served as an important gathering space for the Seattle community. 

After immigrating to Washington State in 1906 with his family, Fujitaro Kubota worked various jobs before founding the Kubota Gardening Company in 1923. In 1927, seeking space for his business, he arranged to purchase five acres of swampland in South Seattle. Due to the Alien Land Laws at the time, which prevented Japanese immigrants from owning land, the property had to be purchased under the name of Kubota's friend, a Japanese American citizen. Kubota began cultivating his display garden, and after the Kubota family moved onto the property in 1940, he expanded his total land to 20 acres. Although it wasn’t public property, the garden became an important gathering space for the local Japanese American community.

In 1942, Executive Order 9066 forced Kubota and his family into the Minidoka incarceration camp in Idaho. While there, he tended the camp's grounds, planting trees and gardens to provide shade. Throughout the war years, the family’s Seattle house was rented out and maintained, but the garden fell into a period of severe neglect. When the Kubotas returned to the city in 1945, it took four years of labor before the garden was fully restored. During this time, Kubota also revived his gardening business and the family continued to enhance their personal garden with new features well into the 1970s. After Washington's repeal of the Alien Land Laws in 1966, Fujitaro Kubota finally gained legal ownership of his gardens. In 1973, the year of his death, Japan awarded him The Fifth Class Order of the Sacred Treasure for fostering greater appreciation of Japanese gardens and culture in Seattle.

The garden received designation as a Seattle Landmark in 1981 but soon faced redevelopment pressure from housing authorities. Following advocacy from the Japanese American community and other Seattle residents, the city purchased the property from the Kubota family. In 1987, the Kubota Garden reopened as a public park, jointly maintained by Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Kubota Garden Foundation. Today, it remains a beloved community site that preserves the legacy of early Japanese American immigrants and honors Fujitaro Kubota's enduring lifelong vision for a public Japanese garden in Seattle.

After immigrating to Washington State in 1906 with his family, Fujitaro Kubota worked various jobs before founding the Kubota Gardening Company in 1923. In 1927, seeking space for his business, he arranged to purchase five acres of swampland in South Seattle. Due to the Alien Land Laws at the time, which prevented Japanese immigrants from owning land, the property had to be purchased under the name of Kubota's friend, a Japanese American citizen. Kubota began cultivating his display garden, and after the Kubota family moved onto the property in 1940, he expanded his total land to 20 acres. Although it wasn’t public property, the garden became an important gathering space for the local Japanese American community.

In 1942, Executive Order 9066 forced Kubota and his family into the Minidoka incarceration camp in Idaho. While there, he tended the camp's grounds, planting trees and gardens to provide shade. Throughout the war years, the family’s Seattle house was rented out and maintained, but the garden fell into a period of severe neglect. When the Kubotas returned to the city in 1945, it took four years of labor before the garden was fully restored. During this time, Kubota also revived his gardening business and the family continued to enhance their personal garden with new features well into the 1970s. After Washington's repeal of the Alien Land Laws in 1966, Fujitaro Kubota finally gained legal ownership of his gardens. In 1973, the year of his death, Japan awarded him The Fifth Class Order of the Sacred Treasure for fostering greater appreciation of Japanese gardens and culture in Seattle.

The garden received designation as a Seattle Landmark in 1981 but soon faced redevelopment pressure from housing authorities. Following advocacy from the Japanese American community and other Seattle residents, the city purchased the property from the Kubota family. In 1987, the Kubota Garden reopened as a public park, jointly maintained by Seattle Parks and Recreation and the Kubota Garden Foundation. Today, it remains a beloved community site that preserves the legacy of early Japanese American immigrants and honors Fujitaro Kubota's enduring lifelong vision for a public Japanese garden in Seattle.

📌APIA Every Day (290) - New York’s Richmond Hill neighborhood, which encompasses Little Guyana (APIA Every Day 187), is also home to a community around 101st Avenue known as Little Punjab. This area of Queens has long been occupied by South Asians, many of them second and third wave immigrants, who arrived in New York following India’s independence and U.S. immigration law reforms in the 1960s. The 1980s in particular, brought an influx of Punjabi Sikh immigrants seeking refuge from government persecution in the aftereffects of Partition which divided Punjab between India and Pakistan. Richmond Hill provided space for this growing Punjabi community in New York to find support and connection amidst a backdrop of businesses that were reminiscent of home. 

Little Punjab experienced considerable growth in the 1990s as more Sikh families gathered around the area's first Gurdwara Sahib—The Sikh Cultural Society Temple—which opened in 1972. Recognized as one of the oldest gurdwaras on the East Coast with organizational roots in 1954, the current temple that sits on the site today was built in 2004 after a fire destroyed the original building in 2002. The second major gurdwara in the area, the Baba Makhan Shah Lubana Sikh Center, was founded in the late 1990s and stands just a few blocks away. Beyond these core religious institutions, Little Punjab is also home to a number of South Asian businesses selling traditional foods, clothing, and jewelry. Notable establishments include restaurants like Punjabi Dhaba and Punjabi Kabab House as well as grocery stores like Apna Bazaar. Signs across these businesses appear in both English and Punjabi Gurmukhi: the writing system used by Sikhs from Eastern Punjab.

In recent years, Little Punjab has gained more official recognition from the city for its historical and cultural significance. In 2020, the length of 101st Avenue between 111th and 123rd streets was officially co-named Punjab Avenue. That same year, a portion of 97th Avenue near the Sikh Cultural Society Temple became Gurdwara Street. In 2023, a section of the intersecting 118th Street was designated Guru Nanak Way, honoring Sikhism's founder. Today, Little Punjab remains a lively, multiethnic neighborhood which continues to celebrate and promote South Asian culture through its businesses and events like the annual Sikh Day parade.

📌APIA Every Day (289) - Located just outside of Los Angeles’ Thai Town (APIA Every Day 36), the Wat Thai was the first Thai Buddhist temple established in the United States in 1979. Thai immigrants had been settling in Southern California since the 1950s, primarily coming to pursue education at American universities. In the 1980s, as more working-class Thai immigrants settled in Los Angeles and opened businesses, the Thai community established more permanent roots in the city. The Wat Thai played an important role in fostering Thai Town's cultural development and providing a central space for community members to gather. 

The Thai community's desire to establish a Buddhist temple in L.A. led to the incorporation of the Thai-American Buddhist Association in 1970. The following year, Buddhist monks were invited from Thailand to help organize efforts to found a temple. Shortly after, two committees—one based in L.A. and one based in Bangkok—formed to fund the burgeoning project. In July of 1971, a single family home was purchased by the committees to serve as both a residence for monks and a temporary worship space, marking Wat Thai's unofficial beginning.

Later in 1972, the site for a more formal temple was purchased on Cantara Street. The property encompassed 2.2 acres of land and a plan was set out to develop a temple monastery complete with worship space, living quarters, and other sacred buildings. That year, construction began with the placement of the foundation stone for the traditional Thai-style main hall, the Uposatha-Sala. The building's completion was marked in 1979 with a ceremony to mount its gable spire, attended by the Sangharaja Somdej Phravanarat—the head of the Thai Buddhist community. In 1982, the Sangharaja returned to consecrate the main hall, officially establishing the Los Angeles temple as a monastery under the Sangha (the Buddhist monastic order). During this time in the ‘80s, the temple community also initiated its ongoing tradition of organizing an outdoor food court for visitors each weekend. 

Since its founding, the temple has maintained its role as a cultural center, celebrating annual Thai festivals, operating a Buddhist Sunday School, and offering meditation and vocational training to community members. The Wat Thai also remains a source of pride for Thai Americans, recently hosting a visit from Thailand's current prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, in 2024. While not yet registered as a historic site, the temple was included in the 2018 Los Angeles Historic Context Study on Thai Americans as a potential local nomination property.

📌 APIA Every Day (288) - Little Rock “Chinatown”, located in the capital city of Arkansas, was once a small but significant enclave for Chinese immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Situated near the heart of the city, the Chinatown area was a vibrant community that supported Chinese-owned businesses, such as laundries and grocery stores. Though now largely forgotten in mainstream American history, Little Rock Chinatown and neighboring counties played an important role in Arkansas’ commercial and cultural life, providing a space where Chinese immigrants could create a sense of community. Little physical evidence remains of the original Chinatown, the stories and legacy of the community continue to be an important part of Little Rock’s cultural history. 

The history of Little Rock Chinatown traces back to the late 1800s when Chinese laborers, mostly male immigrants, arrived in the city seeking economic opportunities following the construction of the transcontinental railroad and the Gold Rush. Chinese laborers were recruited to address the labor shortages across American Southern plantation economies during the Reconstruction period. This plan failed as Chinese workers eventually left these plantation sites to start mostly laundries and grocery stores in historic Black neighborhoods. Some Chinese also served as cooks and opened up their own restaurants in Arkansas. Despite facing considerable discrimination and legal restrictions, the small Chinese community that remained in the area flourished, establishing businesses, social networks, and institutions.

Many of the initial Chinese laborers who remained settled in Arkansas through intermarriage or by bringing their families from China. Thus, the Chinese population grew considerably with newer waves of migration throughout the 20th century. These mobilities made way for newer institutions, such as language schools for the American-born Chinese in Arkansas, churches such as the Little Rock Chinese Christian Church, which served as a community center, and the creation of the Chinese Association of Arkansas. 

Today, the memory of Arkansas’s “Chinatown” exists primarily through oral histories, archival documents, and the efforts of local universities and Chinese American organizations to preserve its legacy. However, one grocery store in Little Rock’s Chinatown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005: George D.D. Huie Grocery Store Building. Located at 1400 North Pine Street in North Little Rock, Arkansas, the building that hosted the grocery store was built by George Huie, a Chinese immigrant. The store was historically important for the growth and development of the local Chinese community and for its service to the historic African American neighborhood in which the grocery store was located. Given that Little Rock Chinatown history has largely been forgotten, how might historic preservation practices expand to include Asian histories across the American South where, instead of officially designated Chinatowns, small, dispersed Chinese communities existed and contributed to local economies and culture?

📌 APIA Every Day (287) - Manenggon Camp, located between the villages of Yona and Talo’fo’fo on the island of Guam, is a historical site that holds deep significance to the people of Guam. It is primarily known as the location where over 20,000 CHamoru civilians were incarcerated by the Japanese military during World War II, between 1944 and 1945. The campsite, situated in a lush, forested area, is marked by a memorial to honor the lives affected by wartime imprisonment and suffering. Manenggon Camp is a key historical landmark for those seeking to understand the hardships endured by the CHamoru people during the war, as well as the broader impact of Guam’s occupation during the conflict.

The history of Manenggon Camp is rooted in the brutal occupation of Guam by the Japanese military, which began in 1941 and lasted until the American recapture of the island in 1944. During this time, the CHamoru population faced extreme violence, displacement, and forced labor. The hardship intensified when the Japanese military forced civilians to march to a remote area between Yona and Talo’fo’fo, aiming to control the CHamoru population ahead of the American military’s impending arrival.  The conditions at the camp were harsh, with inadequate food, shelter, and medical supplies. Many suffered from disease, malnutrition, and the trauma of displacement. After the liberation of Guam by American forces in 1944, Manenggon Camp became a site of remembrance, symbolizing the suffering of the CHamoru people during the war.

The site of Manenggon Camp is an important reflection of the CHamoru people's connection to the land and their resilience through history. The loss of land, livelihood, and family ties due to the incarceration created a profound sense of displacement. However, the site also embodies the CHamoru people’s enduring connection to their ancestral roots, as it represents both a painful chapter in their history and a testament to their survival and strength. The recognition of Manenggon Camp as a National Historic Landmark in December 2024 as a site of memory and respect is part of a larger effort to heal and reconnect with the land, ensuring that the stories of those who suffered there are never forgotten.