Little Manila, Stockton, California
Encyclopedia
Little Manila is an area in Stockton
, California
that was inhabited by predominately Filipino American
agricultural workers during from the 1930s on. Work is underway by the Little Manila Foundation to preserve the Little Manila Historic site.
In response, these Filipino American pioneers built their own community south of Main Street. They set up businesses and organizations of all kinds to meet their own needs---restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, barber shops, the Rizal Social Club, the Daguhoy Lodge, a rescue mission and many others, creating what became Stockton's Little Manila.
The Manongs (respected elder brothers), as they are affectionately called, fought for better working conditions in the fields, fair wages and equal rights, paving the way and making life easier for the generations of Filipino Americans that followed. These men organized labor unions and successfully held strikes against exploitive growers.
Filipino labor leaders like Larry Itliong, Andy Imutan, Chris Mensalvas, Ernesto Mangaoang
, Carlos Bulosan
and Philip Vera Cruz
all worked out of Stockton at one time or another. Historic labor union meetings were held at the Mariposa Hotel on Lafayette Street. Mensalvas and Mangaoang were at the forefront of the ground-breaking asparagus
strike
that successfully concluded in 1939. These courageous Filipino farm workers and labor leaders are the unsung heroes behind the success of the UFW and its iconic leader Cesar Chavez
.
Because of the hardships of life in America in those days, particularly during the Depression
when racially motivated violence was at its peak, few women came to the US from the Philippines
. This and racist anti-miscegenation laws
prohibiting marriage between men of color and white women forced most of the Manongs to remain single for most if not all of their lives. A small number were able to marry white or Mexican women by eloping to neighboring states, mainly Colorado and Texas. But they did so at their peril.
During World War II, the tide of American public opinion about the Filipinos in their midst changed when Filipinos both in the Philippines and the US fought fiercely and bravely alongside Americans. Two all-Filipino regiments of the US Army were among the most highly decorated of the war. Afterwards, laws were changed and many Manongs were able to marry and bring their brides to the US, starting families late in life and producing a generation of Filipino-Americans who knew little of their fathers' courageous struggle to survive in the US until they took college classes in Filipino-American history.
By 1946, Stockton's Little Manila was home to the largest Filipino community in the US.
In the 1950s and 60s, large sections of Little Manila were bulldozed by the city to "improve" Stockton's downtown area. A freeway and some fast food establishments displaced many Filipino homes and establishments and disrupted community life. An unprecedented Filipino-American community effort succeeded in raising money to build the Filipino Plaza, completed in 1972 and now home to once-displaced neighborhood families, some businesses and the Barrio Fiesta, an annual Filipino cultural event held in mid-August.
, is working to reclaim and restore the last remaining buildings of the once vibrant Little Manila district. Through the efforts of the Stockton FANHS and a new generation of Filipino-American leaders such as Dr. Dawn B. Mabalon, history professor at San Francisco State University
and Little Manila Executive Director and filmmaker Dillon Delvo (both the offspring of Manongs), the Mariposa Hotel, the Rizal Social Club, the Filipino Recreation Center and the entire Little Manila District was named one of the nation's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
of 2003 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
.
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
that was inhabited by predominately Filipino American
Filipino American
Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipino Americans, often shortened to "Fil-Ams", or "Pinoy",Filipinos in what is now the United States were first documented in the 16th century, with small settlements beginning in the 18th century...
agricultural workers during from the 1930s on. Work is underway by the Little Manila Foundation to preserve the Little Manila Historic site.
History
Attracted to agricultural jobs in California's Central Valley, many young Filipino men made their homes in Stockton. The racism and discriminatory laws that persisted until the mid sixties kept these mostly young men from pursuing the American dream of a US education, a family and higher economic status, even barring them from crossing Main Street into what was then the exclusively white northern section of the city.In response, these Filipino American pioneers built their own community south of Main Street. They set up businesses and organizations of all kinds to meet their own needs---restaurants, hotels, grocery stores, barber shops, the Rizal Social Club, the Daguhoy Lodge, a rescue mission and many others, creating what became Stockton's Little Manila.
The Manongs (respected elder brothers), as they are affectionately called, fought for better working conditions in the fields, fair wages and equal rights, paving the way and making life easier for the generations of Filipino Americans that followed. These men organized labor unions and successfully held strikes against exploitive growers.
Filipino labor leaders like Larry Itliong, Andy Imutan, Chris Mensalvas, Ernesto Mangaoang
Ernesto Mangaoang
Ernesto Mangaoang was a Filipino American labor organizer. A communist and longtime leader of immigrant Filipino laborers, Mangaoang was closely associated with Chris Mensalvas, and was a personal friend of the famous Filipino American intellectual and activist Carlos Bulosan.-Biography:Born in...
, Carlos Bulosan
Carlos Bulosan
Also known as Julius Zafra , a Filipino, an English-language novelist and poet who spent most of his life in the United States, and is best known for the semi-autobiographical America Is in the Heart.-Life and career:Carlos Bulosan was born to Ilocano parents in...
and Philip Vera Cruz
Philip Vera Cruz
Philip Vera Cruz was a Filipino American labor leader, farmworker, and leader in the Asian American civil rights movement. He was a co-founder of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, which later merged with the National Farm Workers Association to become the United Farm Workers...
all worked out of Stockton at one time or another. Historic labor union meetings were held at the Mariposa Hotel on Lafayette Street. Mensalvas and Mangaoang were at the forefront of the ground-breaking asparagus
Asparagus
Asparagus officinalis is a spring vegetable, a flowering perennialplant species in the genus Asparagus. It was once classified in the lily family, like its Allium cousins, onions and garlic, but the Liliaceae have been split and the onion-like plants are now in the family Amaryllidaceae and...
strike
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
that successfully concluded in 1939. These courageous Filipino farm workers and labor leaders are the unsung heroes behind the success of the UFW and its iconic leader Cesar Chavez
César Chávez
César Estrada Chávez was an American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist who, with Dolores Huerta, co-founded the National Farm Workers Association, which later became the United Farm Workers ....
.
Because of the hardships of life in America in those days, particularly during the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
when racially motivated violence was at its peak, few women came to the US from the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. This and racist anti-miscegenation laws
Anti-miscegenation laws
Anti-miscegenation laws, also known as miscegenation laws, were laws that enforced racial segregation at the level of marriage and intimate relationships by criminalizing interracial marriage and sometimes also sex between members of different races...
prohibiting marriage between men of color and white women forced most of the Manongs to remain single for most if not all of their lives. A small number were able to marry white or Mexican women by eloping to neighboring states, mainly Colorado and Texas. But they did so at their peril.
During World War II, the tide of American public opinion about the Filipinos in their midst changed when Filipinos both in the Philippines and the US fought fiercely and bravely alongside Americans. Two all-Filipino regiments of the US Army were among the most highly decorated of the war. Afterwards, laws were changed and many Manongs were able to marry and bring their brides to the US, starting families late in life and producing a generation of Filipino-Americans who knew little of their fathers' courageous struggle to survive in the US until they took college classes in Filipino-American history.
By 1946, Stockton's Little Manila was home to the largest Filipino community in the US.
In the 1950s and 60s, large sections of Little Manila were bulldozed by the city to "improve" Stockton's downtown area. A freeway and some fast food establishments displaced many Filipino homes and establishments and disrupted community life. An unprecedented Filipino-American community effort succeeded in raising money to build the Filipino Plaza, completed in 1972 and now home to once-displaced neighborhood families, some businesses and the Barrio Fiesta, an annual Filipino cultural event held in mid-August.
Development
Today, the Little Manila Foundation, a Stockton-based non-profit organizationNon-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, is working to reclaim and restore the last remaining buildings of the once vibrant Little Manila district. Through the efforts of the Stockton FANHS and a new generation of Filipino-American leaders such as Dr. Dawn B. Mabalon, history professor at San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers over 100 areas of study from nine academic colleges...
and Little Manila Executive Director and filmmaker Dillon Delvo (both the offspring of Manongs), the Mariposa Hotel, the Rizal Social Club, the Filipino Recreation Center and the entire Little Manila District was named one of the nation's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places
America's Most Endangered Places
Each year since 1987, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has released a list of places they consider the most endangered in America. The number of sites included on the list has varied, with the most recent lists settling on 11...
of 2003 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation
National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is an American member-supported organization that was founded in 1949 by congressional charter to support preservation of historic buildings and neighborhoods through a range of programs and activities, including the publication of Preservation...
.