There are numerous Asian Pacific Islander American (APIA) historic and ethnic neighborhoods and groups that are struggling to preserve their history, culture, heritage, and structures across the country.   In California alone, the bulk of the historic Japantowns that dotted the state before World War II have largely disappeared and the three remaining historic Japantowns (San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles) are being threatened with demographic and economic gentrification and change.   Historic Chinatowns are also undergoing change and facing threats across the country and these stories are multiplied in the Korean, Filipino, Pacific Islander and other Asian American communities.   

There are now APIA museums and historical societies fighting to preserve their stories, but these groups and their preservation allies have never before convened to focus on the preservation of APIA historic resources and to forge new alliances and build a more powerful advocacy voice.

Over the past few years, key members of the APIA communities around the country began to discuss with the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) the idea of a national conference  in order to collaborate and gain further insight, education, and inspiration about historic preservation.   In 2007, the APIA Caucus of the National Trust for Historic Preservation was formed to begin planning for the first-ever National APIA Historic Preservation Forum.

This forum will be the first time that APIAs convene to share their experiences and stories and to support one another in a common struggle not to lose their heritage and their American stories.