Among FANHS' priorities is its National Pinoy Archives (NPA), a simple, non-professional repository, initiated in 1987 in Seattle to appraise, collect, preserve and make accessible to the public for research textual, graphic and electronic historical records - some dating as early as pre-World War I, to document the Filipino American Experience relative to individuals, groups, organizations, institutions and facilities.
Typical archival documentation is unique, original, primary resource material.
The NPA collection is primarily textual in the form of newspaper and magazine clippings, publications, research reports, correspondence, speeches, transcribed oral history interviews, government, legal and other matters, certificates, business cards, posters, political literature and signs, photographs, maps, drawings, other artwork and various other materials of historical value containing the history of Filipino Americans and important elements of their educational, economic, cultural, religious, political and social pursuits in the course of their daily lives and activities - all of which have been determined to be of ethnic importance, significance and legitimacy by Filipino American historians themselves.
Graphic materials, specifically vintage photographs and slides, and audio taped oral interviews are evaluated as adjuncts in the extensive collection of historical photos and oral history programs of the Demonstration Project for Asian Americans (DPAA), which supports and accommodates the NPA.
The National Pinoy Archives strives to safeguard the Filipino American past while accessing present and future needs for information.