UCLA

Historic preservation is a significant issue for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) seeking to safeguard important historic places, preserve unique cultural practices, and receive official recognition of civic contributions. However, few sites associated with AAPI history and cultures have been recognized as landmarks. There has been substantial movement forward by federal agencies and national organizations in developing a more inclusive and diverse approach to traditional standards and policies in order to reflect the growing numbers of underrepresented sociocultural groups, including AAPIs.

To addresses these issues, federal leadership in the Department of the Interior and National Park Service launched the Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Initiative and Theme Study. The theme study, “Finding a Path Forward: Asian American/Pacific Islander National Historic Landmarks Theme Study,” is intended to help in the identification of buildings, structures, sites, objects, and districts associated with Asian and Pacific Islander history in the United States, and facilitate their designation as NHLs and their listing in the National Register of Historic Places. As part of the theme study, the Asian American/Pacific Islander Theme Study Experts Panel was established under the auspices of the National Park Service Advisory Board. The Experts Panel was created to provide advice on the structure of AAPI Theme Study, and identify potential essay authors and major sources of information.

This dissertation explores the challenges and opportunities that arise when engaging citizen participation from diverse and traditionally underrepresented groups in federal historic preservation programs. The goal is to understand the political climate that lead to the initiative, the types of citizen participation that lead to the development of federal historic preservation efforts, and ultimately, support better efforts in documenting and recognizing historical and cultural contributions of AAPIs in the US through the NHL and National Register programs. The rationale is if scholars and practitioners can better understand how to document, identify, and preserve historic sites, we can significantly impact historic preservation outcomes by increasing the number of national/federal designations associated with underrepresented groups and improving historic preservation approaches to be more inclusive of and relevant to these groups.