The LOC's Family Day features stories from the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in the Library’s collections as well as a special presentation by award-winning author, actor, and civil rights advocate George Takei about his new book, My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story. Planned activities invite visitors to creatively share their own family histories and experiences. 

Register for free tickets to visit the Library. Separate free event tickets are required to attend the special events listed below. Visitors only need one of these two tickets to enter during Family Day.

Family Day activities with the Informal Learning Office (10:30 - 3:30pm)
Visitors are invited to participate in creative activities exploring AAPI identities and histories through Library of Congress collections. Learn about the diversity of the AAPI community and experiences relating to immigration, adoption, military service, and more. Visitors can then use this inspiration to write and draw their own family’s stories as part of an on-site activity, then use the take-home guide to record memories in their family and community. Free timed-entry passes are required for this drop-in event.  

Hidden Portals Mask-Making Workshop (11am - 2pm)
Celebrate AAPI History Month with Library of Congress Innovator in Residence Jeffrey Yoo Warren. Families with children ages 6-12 are invited to a mask-making workshop where attendees can create cardboard virtual-reality masks in the shape of a tiger’s head and use them to visit “hidden portals” the artist has made to historic Chinatowns around the US.  

No special equipment beyond a smartphone is required to participate. Lessons begin every half hour in the Thomas Jefferson Building, Room LJ-119. This event requires a free special event ticket.  

George Takei Shares My Lost Freedom (2pm)
Hear from award-winning author, actor, and civil rights advocate George Takei about his new book, My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story. 

What happens when the world as you know it disappears? In 1942, two months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared anyone of Japanese descent living on the West Coast to be an enemy of the United States. Four-year old George Takei and his family were American in every way, but because of their Japanese ancestry, they were removed from their home in California and forced into camps with thousands of similar families.

Learn about Takei’s childhood as an enemy in his own country and his adulthood as a beloved icon, as he shares his newest picture book, “My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story.

Book sales and signing to follow. This event requires a free special event ticket.