Source: The Washington Post

On August 13, 2001, The Washington Post reported on the gala dinner at the National Museum of Natural History held to raise money for the Smithsonian Institution's Sikh Heritage Project, whose purpose is to help preserve Sikh culture. "Pakistan's deputy chief of mission, Akram Zamir, and the Indian ambassador, Lalit Mansingh, attended..., despite the uncomfortable diplomatic air between their neighboring countries...The project's first phase, now underway, is the identification and collection of artifacts for exhibit in a window...

Source: rediff.com

On August 8, 2001, rediff.com reported on the gala of the Sikh Heritage Foundation. "The event, featuring a dinner, lectures and entertainment, will be held at the Smithsonian Institution on August 11 in Washington DC...The Foundation, founded last year by Sikh Americans, seeks to showcase and preserve Sikh art and cultural artefacts...Materials such as manuscripts from the 18th and 19th century royal courts, gilded arms and armour, paintings and jewellery will be showcased" at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. For...

Source: Messenger-Inquirer

http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/columnists/owen/3382699.htm

On July 28, 2001, the Messenger-Inquirer reported on the growing religious diversity in the Bible Belt. "About 200 Jains and about as many Sikhs live in west-central Kentucky and Tennessee now... Bowling Green has 2,000 actively practicing Muslims, mostly Bosnian immigrants... Nashville has about 24,000 Hispanics, compared to 2,700 a decade ago." Thomas Russell and...

Source: The Record

http://www.bergen.com:80/bsouth/hatsrc20010724.htm

On July 24, 2001, the Bergen County Record reported that "four months after a bouncer turned him away at the door, a 15-year-old Sikh youth has won the right to wear his religious headdress inside the Groove Lounge dance club in Lyndhurst {New Jersey]...After four months of phone calls between lawyers, the club agreed to change its 'no hats' policy," which will now exempt religious head coverings.

Source: The Kansas City Star

On July 4, 2001, The Kansas City Star reported that the nearly all white congregation of the Full Faith Church of Love West, installed the Rev. Don Lewis, an African-American, as its new senior pastor. "Guests at the installation included Charangit Hundal of the Sikh gurdwara and Anand and Dipti Bhattacharyya of the Hindu temple."

Source: The Fresno Bee

On June 30, 2001, The Fresno Bee reported that "several Fourth of July celebrations will be offered...by the Fresno faith community: The Interfaith Alliance of Central California's Celebration of Diversity picnic, a Sikh vegetarian brunch, will be held...at California State University, Fresno...The Fresno Rescue Mission will host a barbecue dinner and fireworks show for [the] homeless."

Source: The Times-Picayune

On June 14, 2001, The Times-Picayune reported that "Dya Singh, a world-renowned Malaysian musician, recently debuted in New Orleans by singing at the Asian/Pacific American Heritage Festival... Singh also sang...at the Guru Dwara, the Sikh Community Worship Center...in eastern New Orleans. People of the Sikh community in the city, neighboring towns and out of state, including Texas and Tennessee, came to the worship service." Singh was "very impressed by the cultural diversity of New Orleans."

Source: Newsday

On May 29, 2001, Newsday reported that "area Sikhs joyously welcomed their supreme leader, who arrived in Queens...during his first U.S. tour since he became head of the world's fifth-largest religion 10 months ago." There are about 70,000 Sikhs in the New York metropolitan area.

Source: The Seattle Times

On May 28, 2001, The Seattle Times reported that "the population of Asian Indians in [Washington] nearly tripled from 8,203 to 23,992 during the 1990s, the largest percentage increase among Asian ethnic groups, newly released census figures show...The settlement of Indians here is largely a suburban phenomenon." Many are drawn by jobs in high-tech. "Sikhs, many of whom are originally from the Punjab region of India, are moving here from other states to be near relatives in British Columbia."

Source: The New York Times

On April 29, 2001, The New York Times reported that the Korean Presbyterian Church, the Jain Society of America and the North Shore Hebrew Academy "have each applied to the [Village of Lake Success in New York] to erect houses of worship and educational centers on the north service road of the Long Island Expressway...The buildings would be next door to one another...Officials viewed the applications as an affirmation of the Island's diversity."

Source: The Houston Chronicle

On April 14, 2001, The Houston Chronicle reported that this year 1,000 Sikhs are expected to gather at the Sikh Center in northwest Houston for observances of the 302-year-old harvest festival of Vaisakhi. The event also commemorates the formation of an order of Sikhs called the Khalsa, who are "regarded as the army of God for the protection of the downtrodden." The order formed against the backdrop of conflict between Muslims and Hindus in India. About 5,000 Sikhs are estimated to live in the Houston area.

Source: New York Daily News

On April 8, 2001, the New York Daily News reported on St. Benedict Joseph Labre School in Richmond Hill, in Queens. It is a Catholic school, but "about 20% of the students are Sikhs, 20% are Hindus and 5% are Muslim." Many of the Hindu and Sikh mothers "said they like the structure, morality and emphasis on education at St. Benedict Joseph Labre." Administrators and students report that everyone at the school respects differences in religion or racial background.

Source: The Tennessean

http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/01/04/03814884.shtml?Element_ID=3814884

On April 1, 2001, The Tennessean reported that the Bible Belt is now home to "Six Buddhist communities. Five Jewish congregations. Five Islamic mosques. A Baha'i center. A Hindu temple and a Hindu ashram, or teaching abode. Plus assorted Sikhs and Jains...Others exist, too." Tom Russell, a...

Source: The San Francisco Chronicle

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/03/26

On March 26, 2001, The San Francisco Chronicle reported that "results of the 2000 U.S. Census will begin revealing the impact of two of the most powerful forces of demographic change in the Bay Area -- technology and Asian immigration -- on southern Alameda and northern Santa Clara counties...Asian students make up 40 percent of...

Source: The Dallas Morning News

On March 24, 2001, The Dallas Morning News reported on the Sikh ceremony called the Akhand Path, which is a is a continuous reading of the 1,430 pages of the Sikh sacred book, the Sri Guru Granth. The ceremony, born in India two centuries ago as a reaction to persecution, has become a mark of the faith's identity in 21st-century America." The ceremony can be done to celebrate miny special occasions.