A Message From AIISF’s Executive Director

As we look back on a jam-packed Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month, a hearty thank you again to PG&E for underwriting the costs of free shuttle service to the immigration station every weekend this past month! Thank you also to NBCUniversal for hosting our May 30th at 30 Rock event!

This month, we transition into Immigrant Heritage Month and Pride. As someone who identifies as both an immigrant and as a gay Asian, I remember how difficult it was to be a young adult in the Midwest trying to grapple with these dual identities. As an Asian immigrant, I often felt invisible in the LGBT community. And as a gay man, I wondered if I would ever be fully accepted in the Asian community. While racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and transphobia still very much exist in our country, I am proud to work at an organization like AIISF whose work is grounded in the values of community, belonging, inclusion, integrity, respect, collaboration, and learning.

In June, we also celebrate CA State Parks Week (6/12 - 6/16¬), Juneteenth (6/19), and World Refugee Day (6/20). Stay tuned to our social media channels for a campaign that we are partnering on with our fellow members of the Migration Museums Network and the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience! 

This month, be sure to join us for the first in a series of virtual programs in partnership with Ancestry.com on Wednesday, June 12. Come out to Angel Island on June 15 for Del Sol Quartet Music and Migration concert series. This Saturday’s performances will highlight the experiences of Japanese picture brides at Angel Island. While you are out there, learn more about Kane Mineta in our In The Shadows exhibit at the Angel Island Immigration Museum. 

Finally, a huge congratulations to the Del Sol Quartet and their podcast producer Andrea Klunder on the nomination of their new podcast Sounds Current for the 2024 Tribeca Festival’s Independent Audio Nonfiction Award!

With immigrant pride, 

Edward Tepporn
AIISF Executive Director

Upcoming Events

How to Make a Family Tree with Ancestry

Wednesday, June 12 | 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm | On Zoom

Learn how to build a family tree in our first collaborative webinar with Ancestry on Wednesday, June 12! Crista Cowan, a genealogist with Ancestry, and Danielle Wetmore, AIISF’s programs manager, will be sharing tips and tricks for exploring your family history using Ancestry.com's online collections.

This event is free and online through Zoom.

Del Sol Quartet on Angel Island

Saturday, June 15 | 11:30 am and 1:30 pm

We are thrilled to welcome the Del Sol Quartet back to Angel Island on Saturday, June 15th. They will be performing American Postcards - Picture Brides by Takuma Itoh.

There will be two performances: one at 11:30 am and one at 2:30 pm.

$10 tickets include reserved seating for the show and free admission to the Detention Barracks Museum.

Community and Partner Events

CA State Parks Week

June 12 - June 16 | Angel Island State Park

Join our friends at Angel Island State Park each day from June 12 to June 16 for a series of events ranging from poetry writing & walking, to biking & talking, to hiking & learning about fire ecology, to migration & music with the renowned Del Sol Quartet, to a day of service leaving our beaches free of trash.

Lincoln Summer Nights

Thursday, June 13 | 5pm - 8pm | Lincoln Rec Center (Oakland)

Starting May 9th we’ll be joining Lincoln Summer Nights, a fun and free community event hosted in Lincoln Square Park.

We’ll be doing a variety of activities related to the island's history and the stories of the people who came through the immigration station. There will be performances and a wide variety of other community organizations coming as well so don’t miss out!

Lincoln Summer Nights will happen every second Thursday from 5pm-8pm starting May 9th and ending October 10th.

Taken From Their Families at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose

March 28 - June 23 | Opening Reception March 30 at 10 am

AIISF's travelling exhibit Taken From Their Families: Japanese American Incarceration on Angel Island During World War II is on view at the Japanese American Museum of San Jose from March 28 to June 23, 2024.

Del Sol Quartet's Sounds Current Podcast Series

How does a string quartet help build community from Chinese immigrant poetry carved into detention-center walls on Angel Island? Strip away layers of paint - and shame - and let their words sing out after 100 years of silence. Follow Del Sol’s journey with Huang Ruo’s ANGEL ISLAND Oratorio.