As we move further into the millennium, it is our duty as a scholarly, artistic, and socially conscious community to preserve our past as well as look towards our future. At A/P/A Institute at NYU, we keep in mind the need to preserve our diasporic history. It is our responsibility to further the learning process and to raise questions about race, identity, politics, the arts, and popular culture. And not only should we explore these ideas, but we should also lend our support to the work of individuals like Yoshio Kishi, who meticulously collected over 10,000 items to build the first Asian American research collection of its kind, and the students and scholars who work with such collections to make them available for public access and use.
With your help, we can build a renaissance! The A/P/A Institute at NYU has already completed the fundraising to acquire the Yoshio Kishi/Irene Yah Ling Sun Collection (made possible in large part from a donation made in memory of Dr. Wei Yu Chen) and brought in several other individual and organizational collections to become one of the premier A/P/A Research Archives on the East Coast. By donating directly to A/P/A, you will help faculty, artists, researchers, and other scholars study and interpret the artifacts in the A/PA Archives that could assist future generations — by helping graduate students complete their dissertations, filmmakers create documentaries, advocates write reports that affect public policy, and much, much more. Your contribution will positively impact our acquisition, preservation, and research work. Here’s just a sample of how your donation can help:
Friend (up to $100)
A donation at this level could go towards acquiring a rare first edition of a significant work of Asian American literature such as America Is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan, published in 1946. This rare memoir of a Filipino agricultural migrant worker who immigrated to the United States in 1931 is a tale of hardship and determination, and an important example of a story often left untold in American history.
Supporter ($101 to $500)
A donation at this level could help acquire a poster collection such as an original Evacuation Notice instructing all persons of Japanese ancestry in sections of California to report to Civil Control Stations in 1942; or a poster advertising the film The Crimson Kimono in 1959 where film actor James Shigeta became the first Asian American to kiss a white woman on the silver screen.
Patron ($501 to $1,000)
A donation at this level could ensure the accessibility of materials that trace the image of Asian Americans in popular media in the 19th and 20th centuries. Materials such as The Chinese Slave-Girl, a book from 1880, sheet music for voice and piano of The Wedding of the Chinee and the Coon from 1907, movie stills of The Mask of Fu Manchu of 1932, or a Charlie Chan comic book from 1965 lets us see how some depictions of Asian Americans have changed while some remain the same throughout American history. The ability to engage these materials in academic and community dialogue allows us to challenge, confront, and understand the effects of these images.
Benefactor ($1,001 to $5,000)
A donation at this level could help preserve archival material documenting the Asian American civil rights movement in the 1970s and 1980s in New York and nation-wide. Archival material like newsletters, pamphlets, fliers, and audio recordings document the emergence of a positive Asian American identity that challenged pervading stereotypes, and a movement that aligned itself with global struggles for equality. In particular, the movement represented protests against the Vietnam War, the fight for Japanese American redress, the campaign to defend Chol Soo Lee, and the campaign to Save the Boat People.
Giving Circle ($5,001 to $10,000)
A donation at this level could help significantly fund the Graduate Assistantship in A/P/A Archives. The first in the nation, the GA in A/PA Archives is a highly prestigious opportunity for someone seeking to develop Asian/Pacific American collections in the NY metropolitan area. While studying for a Master of Arts in Archives & Public History, this graduate student will work on developing the A/P/A Research Collections — serving as a member of the A/P/A and NYU Libraries staff and liaising with the community. These funds enable the student to pursue a full-time course of study.
Silver Leader ($50,000)
A donation at this level could support two Graduate Assistants simultaneously for one year while they work towards their Masters degrees in Archives & Public History, and with A/P/A Institute; or, fully support one graduate student for the full two-year course of study and work with A/P/A.
Gold Leader ($100,000 and up)
A donation at this level could help establish a named gift that provides two Graduate Assistants with living expenses via an annual stipend while they pursue their two-year Masters degrees in Archives & Public History while working with A/P/A.
A gift of $1 million could result in an endowment that could support these Graduate Assistantships in perpetuity. Giving at this level also provides an excellent naming opportunity for an Endowed Chair — the highest honor available at an academic institution.
The Asian/Pacific/American Institute at NYU greatly appreciates your support at any giving level. Whether $25, $250, $1,500, or $30,000, any support you can give to these important projects will go towards preserving our history! Please visit our donate page to make a gift. Thank you!