© 1999, Stockton Newspapers Inc.
[Click on the photographs for a larger view and
to view photograph comments.]
"We used to be the invisible Americans and ignored for many years," Stocktonian Letty Perez said. "Now, we're getting lots of visibility -- and we're excited about it. We think this will open the eyes of many people as to who we are and what we've done."
Perez and others in Stockton's Filipino American community are excited about a new exhibition opening today at The Haggin Museum: "Filipino Roots, American Legacy: The Stockton Experience."
The show, a collaboration of The Haggin and the Stockton Chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), is a colorful and detailed depiction of the ways in which Filipino immigrants and their descendants have contributed to the economic growth, civic life and cultural richness of the Stockton area.
A variety of programs during the run of the show, which will be on display until June 13, also will help familiarize the public with one of the lesser-known sagas of San Joaquin County history.
"I've got an emotional investment in the exhibition because of my ancestry," said guest curator Richard Tenaza of University of the Pacific, who will lecture on a little-known war in the Philippines at the turn of the century that opened the doors to Filipino immigration. "But also as a teacher, I get a lot of satisfaction out of transmitting knowledge and trying to put the pieces of history together."
For Stockton-born Dawn Mabalon, it's an opportunity to explore the lives of women in the 1920s and 1930s in Stockton's bustling "Little Manila" and recall the days when grandfather Pablo "Mang Ambo" Mabalon operated a Stockton lunch counter (at 50 East Lafayette St.) that was a dining and social center of Filipino community life for 50 years.
"I think the exhibition is really incredible -- and something that's long been needed," said Mabalon, a doctoral candidate in history at Stanford University. "It's an opportunity for the elders in the community to impart their history and for Stockton's Filipino youth to gain a sense of how important their neighborhood and their community have been in Filipino American history."
The displays range from island-inspired fashions to the uniforms of Filipino American servicemen, from a replica of a typical bunkhouse for Filipino field workers to the educational and professional achievements of modern Filipino Americans.
They start with the arrival of the first immigrants and span the decades to the hopes and dreams of today's youth, said Fred Cordova, Stockton-born FANHS archivist.
"Stockton, in its own way, gives us a sense of history, of activism, of imagination. It's something uniquely Pinoy (Filipino American). Hopefully, this exhibition is going to bring a better awareness of what that history is."
Perez, a retired labor/management specialist for the federal government who is lending the show some of her extensive collection of local photos and memorabilia, shares the hope of many locals that the show will help make the community at large "better informed about who the Filipinos are, what they've done and what they're doing."
"Even our own Filipino people -- especially newcomers and children today -- need to learn more about all the different contributions Filipinos made to the community," she said.
Dillon Delvo, youth minister at St. George's Catholic Church, is a member of a new generation of Filipino Americans seeking to get in closer touch with their roots.
"It seems like, for many people, the defining point of being Filipino is lumpia and other foods," said Delvo, 25. "It's way beyond that. Most of our youth don't know that Stockton is the center of Filipino American history because it isn't taught in our schools. I was born here and lived here all my life, but I had to go to college and minor in ethnic studies to learn about Stockton."
Surprised by that history, Delvo said he went through some major soul-searching when he realized how little he knew.
"You think you know yourself, your family, your culture and heritage," he said. "This exhibition is a perfect opportunity for our Filipino American youth to start asking questions, to start learning about their families -- and themselves."
The activities and interests of today's Filipino youth are featured in one of the exhibition's displays. Others include a multicultural history of the Philippine Islands, the contributions of Filipino farm laborers to Stockton, the "bridge generation" of those born to pioneer immigrants, World War II service, and contemporary life in the Filipino American community.
For Delvo, the exhibition is an encouraging starting point for those wanting to find out more about their heritage.
"I think the best thing is not so much the publicity but the fact that someone can go there (to The Haggin) and be moved enough by what he or she sees to want to learn more and to do research on their family," Delvo said. "I think it's going to make them want to ask questions.''
Haggin education curator Marilyn Guida said that the new show is one the most extensive exhibits of Filipino life and history presented in the United States.
"It's about time we recognized this community and how it has endured and changed over the years," Guida said. "This is a very diverse group of people -- reflective of the Philippines, of the immigrant experience since the turn of the century and of the lives people have made for themselves in this country."
For some in the local community, the exhibition will come as a revelation; for others, it's already a source of pride.
"It means a lot to our self-worth," Perez said. "The fact is, we want the whole community to know what an important part Filipinos played in this county and how hard they've worked to achieve their dream. We want them to know we weren't idle."
© 1999, Stockton Newspapers Inc.
Efforts to create a Filipino National Historical Museum in Stockton will receive fresh impetus from the current exhibition at The Haggin Museum, say members of the local chapter of the 20-unit-strong Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS).
"I'm sure it will help," said Virginia Zambra Melear, chapter secretary-treasurer, who created the idea for the museum along with Frank Acoba and the late Cecil Bonzo. "I think we'll move one step closer because The Haggin will give publicity to our endeavors. Most of all, it will make the greater community aware of what the history is that we're trying to preserve. Much of it is not documented in books."
The national society approved Stockton as a museum site because of its historic role as the center of Filipino American family and community life and labor activities, said FANHS archivist Fred Cordova. Once the largest population center of Filipinos outside the Philippines, Stockton's "Little Manila" attracted thousands of immigrants who found work and support systems here.
"Much of the birth of Filipino American history was ensconced in Stockton, and it's part of our national society's effort to preserve and promote what that history is all about," Cordova said.
The Stockton museum would become one of three key preservation sites in the United States, joining Seattle's National Pinoy Archive and an embryonic national library in New York City.
The search is now under way to find a site to showcase the various historical artifacts, writings and photos, some of which are housed in boxes in the homes and garages of various FANHS members. Melear said they've been used for limited exhibitions at local libraries, banks and festivals.
Seeing a major display of their collections at the museum will be a heartening and emotional experience for many FANHS members and other Filipino Americans, Melear said.
"I know when I go to see the exhibition at The Haggin Museum, I will cry because this project is so close to our hearts," she said. "The museum would be just about like The Haggin exhibition, but more detailed. We're still working at it, and we know what we want to put there."
Chapter vice president Mel La Gasca of Tracy said the group might start with a small storefront and establish "a process for categorizing all the material that we've got, and assign responsibility for the artifacts."
La Gasca sees the museum playing a much-needed outreach role in the community, with volunteers visiting classrooms and cultural events with displays and giving talks.
"There's a multitude of things we can do, but we need to think about the process and how we can secure some funding. Small fund-raisers could keep us afloat."
La Gasca agrees that the current Haggin show will do much to advance the cause of a Filipino American history museum in Stockton, especially as it provides FANHS members an opportunity to network with those interested in helping it become a reality.
"I think it will really open some eyes and spark some interest," he said.
Melear said she dreams of someday taking her grandchildren to the museum.
"Some of them have dark hair and dark eyes, and some of them have green eyes and fair skin. They are like flowers in a garden. But I would like to be able to take them to such a museum and show them who their great-grandfather was and what he did. I don't want them to be like a lot of young people who wait until it's too late and then have to explore someone else's version of history."
[Return to FANHS Home Page]