On April 21, the Pitzer Center for Asian Pacific American Students (CAPAS) space transformed into a vibrant display of the Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Archive Project. An ongoing research project by students at CAPAS, the initiative collects and preserves APIDA history across the 5Cs.
The CAPAS space was flooded with students eager to see the first public showcase of the project, which was curated by CAPAS Archive Interns Natasha Yen PZ ’25 and Aaron Ong PZ ’27. The display featured a timeline of events on the walls, ranging from political activism to key cultural milestones, spanning from 1968 to the present day.
The APIDA Archive Project aims to conserve APIDA history at the 5Cs by gathering and examining documents, photos and narratives. The project was originally co-created by Yen and Jasmine Caniban PZ ’25 with development starting in spring 2023. While serving on the Pitzer Pacifica Asian Student Union (PASU) executive board, they noticed gaps in documentation of 5C APIDA history, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think [PASU] really lacked the capacity to function as usual after COVID, and saw a need to draw from historical records of what [APIDA] affinity groups and spaces had done in the past, and we didn’t have those resources there,” Yen explained.
Yen and Caniban launched the project in response to this gap.
“So that’s where the APIDA Archive Project emerged from,” Yen continued. “The need for remembering the histories of APIDA activism at the 5Cs to inform our present moment and also the future of our work.”
In fall 2023, the project’s administration moved to CAPAS to have access to more resources, including funding to hire interns, in order to solidify it as a long-term initiative. Since then, Yen, Ong and other CAPAS contributors have drawn from existing records at the Honnold/Mudd Library and across the 5Cs to compile a complete record of APIDA history.
These efforts have culminated in the form of the timeline, with other ventures still in the works.
The project also included adding a Pitzer APIDA history timeline on the CAPAS section of the college’s website. Current CAPAS Director Dominique (Nikki) Acosta shared that, before she started the position in January, the timeline helped her better understand the APIDA community she would be joining.
“The need for remembering the histories of APIDA activism at the 5Cs to inform our present moment and also the future of our work.”
“When I was actually learning about the role and in the interview process, I chose to look at the [Pitzer] website for information about the center and Pitzer,” Acosta said. “I stumbled upon the timeline, which was really helpful for me to understand the history of the students and the community that I was going to be entering.”
As the APIDA Archive Project continues to grow, CAPAS hopes to expand its scope and accessibility.
“We’d like a permanent place on the Pitzer website, or an independent website where we can not only have the [complete 5C] timeline [showcased at this gallery], but also more stuff, like oral histories and interviews,” Ong said. “So that’s our long-term goal. We’re still in the early stages of that, but I think that in a few years, it’ll be really important.”
Ong also expressed hope that others will use the archive as a resource for their own projects.
“If someone wants to use this archive as a resource as a starting point for writing a book, I think that would be a really great use of it,” Ong said. “And that would basically make everything we’ve done here worth it.”
As Yen prepares to graduate this spring, she reflected on her experience with the project and shared her hopes for its future.
“I’m really grateful to have had this opportunity to make this project, and I really do hope that it’s able to continue in the future,” Yen said. “I’ve been able to work with Nikki [Acosta] to ensure that the Archive Project will continue to hire student interns who are passionate about our history.”
The APIDA Archive Project stands as a testament to the power of student initiative and the importance of preserving community histories for generations to come.
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