First Asian American Elected to U.S. Congress
In 1956, Dalip Singh Saund was elected to represent California’s 29th Congressional District, becoming the first Asian American, Indian immigrant, and Sikh in the U.S. Congress. He won in a conservative district in the Imperial Valley. Endorsed by John F. Kennedy, Saund served three terms on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. His historic election was […]
Dalip Singh Saund
Dalip Singh Saund arrived in the United States in 1920 to study at the University of California, Berkeley, where he successfully earned a mathematics doctorate. For two decades, he worked as a farmer in California’s Imperial Valley because discriminatory American laws prevented South Asians from becoming naturalized citizens. Once the laws changed in 1946, he entered local politics. In 1952, he was elected Justice of the Peace, becoming the first Indian American to hold an elected office. He later won a seat in Congress in 1956. A stroke ended his third term, and he died in 1973.