HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS
In 1991, Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) board of trustees proposed the first annual Filipino American History Month to commence in October 1992. In 2009, the US Congress designated October as Filipino American History Month, a monthlong commemoration and appreciation for the Filipino experience throughout American history. October was chosen to commemorate the arrival of the first Filipinos who landed in what is now Morro Bay, California on October 18, 1587. It is also the birth month of Filipino American labor leader Larry Itliong. Larry organized West Coast agricultural workers starting in the 1930s, and rose to national prominence in 1965, when he, along with 800 other manongs walked off the farms of area table-grape growers, demanding wages equal to the federal minimum wage; that became known as the Delano grape strike, and even triggered an international grape boycott.
KEY HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS
1587 The landing of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Esperanza in Morro Bay marking the first presence of Filipinos (referred to in the ship's logs as Luzones Indios) in the continental United States. The Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza sailed from Portuguese Macau, as part of the Manila galleon trade.
KEY HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS
1587 The landing of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Señora de Esperanza in Morro Bay marking the first presence of Filipinos (referred to in the ship's logs as Luzones Indios) in the continental United States. The Nuestra Señora de Buena Esperanza sailed from Portuguese Macau, as part of the Manila galleon trade.
1760s Filipino slaves escaped their Spanish colonial masters and settled in present-day Louisiana. They settled in a bayou on the shore of Lake Borgne, and became the first Filipino immigrants to settle in the United States, known as "Manilamen." Along with enslaved people and other people of color, the Filipino immigrants built a small fishing village called Saint Malo. The Manilamen made many contributions including revolutionizing the shrimping industry.
1880 Section 69 of California's Civil Code refuses marriage licenses to whites and "Mongolians, Negroes, mulattoes and persons of mixed blood."
1898 Treaty of Paris: From Spain to the U.S.; Philippines is sold for $20 million; Annexation of Hawaii
1899 Rudyard Kipling's "The White Man's Burden" poem about the Philippine-American War that exhorts the United States to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country - the seventh and eighth lines of the first stanza represent the Filipinos as "new-caught, sullen peoples, half-devil...
1903 The Pensionado Act allowed Filipino college students to enter the U.S. Passed by the United States Congress, it established a scholarship program for Filipinos to attend school in the United States. The program has roots in pacification efforts following the Philippine-American War.
1907+ Systematic recruitment of Filipino agricultural workers and manual laborers to the U.S. (and Hawaii) was instituted. Their presence prompted anti-Filipino riots. Filipino workers in the U.S. formed mutual support organizations and joined labor unions.
1917 The Immigration Act of 1917 was a United States Act that aimed to restrict immigration by imposing literacy tests on immigrants, creating new categories of inadmissible persons, and barring immigration from the Asia-Pacific
1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson-Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins
Act, was a federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe.
1931 Filipinos in the U.S. armed forces become eligible for U.S. citizenship
1933 Salvador Roldan vs. LA County, tests the anti-miscegenation laws. The anti-Filipino forces however soon get legislation added onto existing laws to include Filipino-white in anti-miscegenation prohibitions.
1934 Morrison vs. California holds Filipinos ineligible for citizenship.
1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act assigned an annual quota of 50 Filipinos to enter the U.S. per year and promised Philippine independence after a 10-year commonwealth period.
1935 The U.S. Congress passed Repatriation Bill to facilitate the expulsion of Filipinos from the U.S.
1941 The U.S. enters WWIl
1942-1945 Japanese occupation of the Philippines
1945 WWIl ends/Cold War Begins
1945-50 The War Brides Act allowed Filipinas married to US.. Armed Forces personnel to settle in the U.S.
1946
The U.S. granted the Philippines "Independence"
• The Philippine Trade Act granted nonquota immigrant status to Philippine citizens, their spouses, and children who have resided in the U.S. for a continuous period of three years prior to November 30, 1941.
• The Filipino Naturalization Act (also known as the Luce-Cellar Act) conferred; Act of the United States Congress which provided a quota of 100 Filipinos and 100 Indians from Asia to immigrate to the United States per year, which for the first time allowed these people to naturalize as American citizens.
• The Rescission Act deemed that U.S. Filipino WWI veterans did not engage in military service and therefore did not deserve full veteran benefits.
1950-1953 Korean War
1961-1975 Vietnam War
1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act increased the quota for Filipinos through family unification and professional worker provisions.
1970 First Quarter Storm in the Philippines: included a series of demonstrations, protests, and marches against the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, mostly organized by students and supported by workers, peasants, and members of the urban poor, from January 26 to March 17, 1970.
1972 Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines forcing many to seek political refugee status in the U.S.
1974 The Marcos regime in the Philippine enacted the Labor Export Program (LEP) to systematically export Filipino workers as commodities to work in other countries and use their remittances to finance the underdeveloped Philippine economy.
1976 Health Professions Educational Assistance Act reduced influx of foreign doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. The Eilberg Act further restricted immigration of professionals.
1986 The Marcos regime collapsed after decades of people's legal and underground resistance and history continues...
1898 Treaty of Paris: From Spain to the U.S.; Philippines is sold for $20 million; Annexation of Hawaii
1899 Rudyard Kipling's "The White Man's Burden" poem about the Philippine-American War that exhorts the United States to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country - the seventh and eighth lines of the first stanza represent the Filipinos as "new-caught, sullen peoples, half-devil...
1903 The Pensionado Act allowed Filipino college students to enter the U.S. Passed by the United States Congress, it established a scholarship program for Filipinos to attend school in the United States. The program has roots in pacification efforts following the Philippine-American War.
1907+ Systematic recruitment of Filipino agricultural workers and manual laborers to the U.S. (and Hawaii) was instituted. Their presence prompted anti-Filipino riots. Filipino workers in the U.S. formed mutual support organizations and joined labor unions.
1917 The Immigration Act of 1917 was a United States Act that aimed to restrict immigration by imposing literacy tests on immigrants, creating new categories of inadmissible persons, and barring immigration from the Asia-Pacific
1924 The Immigration Act of 1924, or Johnson-Reed Act, including the Asian Exclusion Act and National Origins
Act, was a federal law that prevented immigration from Asia and set quotas on the number of immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe.
1931 Filipinos in the U.S. armed forces become eligible for U.S. citizenship
1933 Salvador Roldan vs. LA County, tests the anti-miscegenation laws. The anti-Filipino forces however soon get legislation added onto existing laws to include Filipino-white in anti-miscegenation prohibitions.
1934 Morrison vs. California holds Filipinos ineligible for citizenship.
1934 Tydings-McDuffie Act assigned an annual quota of 50 Filipinos to enter the U.S. per year and promised Philippine independence after a 10-year commonwealth period.
1935 The U.S. Congress passed Repatriation Bill to facilitate the expulsion of Filipinos from the U.S.
1941 The U.S. enters WWIl
1942-1945 Japanese occupation of the Philippines
1945 WWIl ends/Cold War Begins
1945-50 The War Brides Act allowed Filipinas married to US.. Armed Forces personnel to settle in the U.S.
1946
The U.S. granted the Philippines "Independence"
• The Philippine Trade Act granted nonquota immigrant status to Philippine citizens, their spouses, and children who have resided in the U.S. for a continuous period of three years prior to November 30, 1941.
• The Filipino Naturalization Act (also known as the Luce-Cellar Act) conferred; Act of the United States Congress which provided a quota of 100 Filipinos and 100 Indians from Asia to immigrate to the United States per year, which for the first time allowed these people to naturalize as American citizens.
• The Rescission Act deemed that U.S. Filipino WWI veterans did not engage in military service and therefore did not deserve full veteran benefits.
1950-1953 Korean War
1961-1975 Vietnam War
1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act increased the quota for Filipinos through family unification and professional worker provisions.
1970 First Quarter Storm in the Philippines: included a series of demonstrations, protests, and marches against the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos, mostly organized by students and supported by workers, peasants, and members of the urban poor, from January 26 to March 17, 1970.
1972 Marcos declared martial law in the Philippines forcing many to seek political refugee status in the U.S.
1974 The Marcos regime in the Philippine enacted the Labor Export Program (LEP) to systematically export Filipino workers as commodities to work in other countries and use their remittances to finance the underdeveloped Philippine economy.
1976 Health Professions Educational Assistance Act reduced influx of foreign doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. The Eilberg Act further restricted immigration of professionals.
1986 The Marcos regime collapsed after decades of people's legal and underground resistance and history continues...
BRIEF HISTORY ON HOW FILIPINOS ARRIVED TO THE DIFFERENT STATES
GREATER LOS ANGELES : Filipino Pensionados began arriving to the region in 1903, including Ventura County, others attended schools in Los Angeles County, including the University of Southern California, and University of California, Los Angeles. In the 1920s, the area now known as Little Tokyo was known as Little Manila, where the first concentration of Filipino immigrants in Los Angeles lived. In 1930, one in five Filipinos in the United States called Los Angeles County home. The number of Filipinos in the area expanded in the winter season to work temporary jobs. In 1937, the first Filipina American graduated from UCLA.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA : One of the earliest records of a Filipino settling in the San Francisco Bay Area occurred in the mid-19th century, when a Filipino immigrant and his Miwok wife settled in Lairds Landing on the Marin County coast; many Coast Miwok trace their lineage to this couple. Significant migration began in the early 20th century, including upper-class mestizo businessmen, mariners, and students (pensionados). Another group of Filipinos who immigrated to the Bay Area was war brides, many of whom married African-American "buffalo soldiers". Additionally, other immigrants came through the U.S. Military, some through the Presidio of San Francisco, and others as migrant workers on their way to points inland; many of these Filipinos would settle down permanently in the Bay Area, establishing "Manilatown" on Kearny Street . At its largest size, "Manilatown" was home to at least 10,000, the last of whom were evicted in August 1977 from the International Hotel. After 1965, Filipinos from the Philippines began immigrating to San Francisco, concentrating in the South of Market neighborhood. In 1970, the San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area had a population of 44,326 Filipinos. Two other nearby metropolitan areas also had a population of Filipinos greater than 5,000 in 1970, San Jose (6,768), and Salinas-Monterey
SAN DIEGO COUNTY : San Diego has historically been a destination for Filipino immigrants. One of the earliest instances of a Filipino being in San Diego, occurred during the Portolá expedition in 1769, while California was still part of New Spain. The first documentation of Filipinos arriving in San Diego, as part of the United States, occurred in 1903 when Filipino students arrived at State Normal School; they were followed as early as 1908 by Filipino sailors serving in the United States Navy. Due to discriminatory housing policies of the time, the majority of Filipinos in San Diego lived downtown around Market Street, then known as "Skid Row”. After World War II, the majority of Filipino Americans in San Diego were associated with the U.S. Navy in one form or another. Even in the late 1970s and early 1980s more than half of Filipino babies born in the greater San Diego area were born at Balboa Naval Hospital. In the 1970s, the typical Filipino family consisted of a husband whose employment was connected to the military, and a wife who was a nurse. Many Filipino American veterans, after completing active duty, would move out of San Diego, to the suburbs of Chula Vista and National City.
HAWAII : From 1909 to 1934, Hawaiian sugar plantations recruited Filipinos, later known as sakadas; by 1932 Filipinos made up the majority of laborers on Hawaiian sugar plantations. In 1920, Filipinos were the fifth largest population by race in Hawaii, with 21,031 people. By 1930, the population of Filipinos in Hawaii had nearly tripled to 63,052. As late as 1940, the population of Filipinos in the Territory of Hawaii outnumbered Filipinos in the continental United States. In 1970, the Honolulu metropolitan area alone had a population of 66,653 Filipinos, the largest Filipino population in any metropolitan area in the United States.
ILLINOIS : Filipino migration to the Chicago area began in 1906 with the immigration of pensionados, consisting predominantly of men. A significant number of them married non-Filipinos, mainly Eastern or Southern European women. At one point, 300 of these early Chicago Filipinos worked for the Pullman Company, and overall tended to be more educated than most men of their age. During the 1930s, they were predominately in the Near South Side until the 1965 immigration reforms. In 1930, there were 1,796 Filipinos living in Chicago. The population decreased to 1,740 in 1940 with men outnumbering women 25:1. In the 1960s, there were 3,587 Filipinos in Illinois, the population increased to 12,654 in 1970.
TEXAS : The first Filipino known by name in Texas was Francisco Flores, who came to Texas by way of Cuba in the nineteenth century. Flores lived initially in Port Isabel later moving to Rockport. Following the annexation of the Philippines by the United States, Filipinos began migrating to Texas. Filipino employees of American officers who served in the Philippines, would move with those officers when they returned to the Continental United States, with many settling around San Antonio. Other Filipinos resettled in Texas after initially residing elsewhere in the United States. In 1910, there were six Filipinos living in Texas, by 1920 this number had increased to 30, and by 1930, the population had grown to 288. With the disbandment of the Philippine Scouts, many who remained in the military came to call Fort Sam Houston home. After World War II, many Filipino professionals began immigrating to Texas; 2,000 Filipino nurses called Houston home. In 1950, about 4,000 Filipino Americans were in Texas.
NEW JERSEY : Filipinos are the third largest group of Asian Americans in New Jersey after Indian and Chinese Americans. From 1966 until 1991, at least 35,000 Filipino nurses migrated to the United States. During this period, many Filipinos settled in Jersey City.
WASHINGTON : The first documented Filipino in Washington state was a lumber mill employee at Port Blakely in 1888, but there were some earlier instances of Filipino seamen settling in the Puget Sound region. In 1910, the population of Filipinos in Washington was twelve times greater than in California. In 1920, there were almost a thousand (958) Filipinos in Washington. Pre-World War II, Washington had the second-largest population of Filipino Americans in the mainland United States—3,480 in 1930; this population had declined to 2,200 by 1940. A significant population of these early Filipinos were migratory workers, working in the canneries in Puget Sound, and harvesting crops in Yakima Valley.
NEW YORK CITY : Filipinos have resided in New York City since the 1920s settling near Brooklyn Navy Yard. In 1960, there were only 2,744 Filipinos in New York City. In 1970, there were 14,279 Filipinos in New York State. A high percentage of Filipino healthcare professionals continues.
NEVADA : Five Filipinos were documented in Nevada in 1920; the population increased to 47 in 1930. The first known Filipinos to arrive in Clark County arrived from California during the Great Depression. Filipinos arriving in the mid-20th century settled primarily around Fifth and Sixth Streets, and an enclave remains in this area.
FLORIDA : In 1910, there was a single Filipino living in Florida, this population increased to 11 in 1920, and 46 in 1930.
VIRGINIA : The first year that Filipinos were documented in Virginia by the United States Census Bureau was in 1920, when 97 Filipinos were counted; by 1930, that population increased to 126. In 1970, there were 7,128 Filipinos living in Virginia, 5,449 of whom lived in the Norfolk-Portsmouth metropolitan area.
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA : One of the earliest records of a Filipino settling in the San Francisco Bay Area occurred in the mid-19th century, when a Filipino immigrant and his Miwok wife settled in Lairds Landing on the Marin County coast; many Coast Miwok trace their lineage to this couple. Significant migration began in the early 20th century, including upper-class mestizo businessmen, mariners, and students (pensionados). Another group of Filipinos who immigrated to the Bay Area was war brides, many of whom married African-American "buffalo soldiers". Additionally, other immigrants came through the U.S. Military, some through the Presidio of San Francisco, and others as migrant workers on their way to points inland; many of these Filipinos would settle down permanently in the Bay Area, establishing "Manilatown" on Kearny Street . At its largest size, "Manilatown" was home to at least 10,000, the last of whom were evicted in August 1977 from the International Hotel. After 1965, Filipinos from the Philippines began immigrating to San Francisco, concentrating in the South of Market neighborhood. In 1970, the San Francisco-Oakland metropolitan area had a population of 44,326 Filipinos. Two other nearby metropolitan areas also had a population of Filipinos greater than 5,000 in 1970, San Jose (6,768), and Salinas-Monterey
SAN DIEGO COUNTY : San Diego has historically been a destination for Filipino immigrants. One of the earliest instances of a Filipino being in San Diego, occurred during the Portolá expedition in 1769, while California was still part of New Spain. The first documentation of Filipinos arriving in San Diego, as part of the United States, occurred in 1903 when Filipino students arrived at State Normal School; they were followed as early as 1908 by Filipino sailors serving in the United States Navy. Due to discriminatory housing policies of the time, the majority of Filipinos in San Diego lived downtown around Market Street, then known as "Skid Row”. After World War II, the majority of Filipino Americans in San Diego were associated with the U.S. Navy in one form or another. Even in the late 1970s and early 1980s more than half of Filipino babies born in the greater San Diego area were born at Balboa Naval Hospital. In the 1970s, the typical Filipino family consisted of a husband whose employment was connected to the military, and a wife who was a nurse. Many Filipino American veterans, after completing active duty, would move out of San Diego, to the suburbs of Chula Vista and National City.
HAWAII : From 1909 to 1934, Hawaiian sugar plantations recruited Filipinos, later known as sakadas; by 1932 Filipinos made up the majority of laborers on Hawaiian sugar plantations. In 1920, Filipinos were the fifth largest population by race in Hawaii, with 21,031 people. By 1930, the population of Filipinos in Hawaii had nearly tripled to 63,052. As late as 1940, the population of Filipinos in the Territory of Hawaii outnumbered Filipinos in the continental United States. In 1970, the Honolulu metropolitan area alone had a population of 66,653 Filipinos, the largest Filipino population in any metropolitan area in the United States.
ILLINOIS : Filipino migration to the Chicago area began in 1906 with the immigration of pensionados, consisting predominantly of men. A significant number of them married non-Filipinos, mainly Eastern or Southern European women. At one point, 300 of these early Chicago Filipinos worked for the Pullman Company, and overall tended to be more educated than most men of their age. During the 1930s, they were predominately in the Near South Side until the 1965 immigration reforms. In 1930, there were 1,796 Filipinos living in Chicago. The population decreased to 1,740 in 1940 with men outnumbering women 25:1. In the 1960s, there were 3,587 Filipinos in Illinois, the population increased to 12,654 in 1970.
TEXAS : The first Filipino known by name in Texas was Francisco Flores, who came to Texas by way of Cuba in the nineteenth century. Flores lived initially in Port Isabel later moving to Rockport. Following the annexation of the Philippines by the United States, Filipinos began migrating to Texas. Filipino employees of American officers who served in the Philippines, would move with those officers when they returned to the Continental United States, with many settling around San Antonio. Other Filipinos resettled in Texas after initially residing elsewhere in the United States. In 1910, there were six Filipinos living in Texas, by 1920 this number had increased to 30, and by 1930, the population had grown to 288. With the disbandment of the Philippine Scouts, many who remained in the military came to call Fort Sam Houston home. After World War II, many Filipino professionals began immigrating to Texas; 2,000 Filipino nurses called Houston home. In 1950, about 4,000 Filipino Americans were in Texas.
NEW JERSEY : Filipinos are the third largest group of Asian Americans in New Jersey after Indian and Chinese Americans. From 1966 until 1991, at least 35,000 Filipino nurses migrated to the United States. During this period, many Filipinos settled in Jersey City.
WASHINGTON : The first documented Filipino in Washington state was a lumber mill employee at Port Blakely in 1888, but there were some earlier instances of Filipino seamen settling in the Puget Sound region. In 1910, the population of Filipinos in Washington was twelve times greater than in California. In 1920, there were almost a thousand (958) Filipinos in Washington. Pre-World War II, Washington had the second-largest population of Filipino Americans in the mainland United States—3,480 in 1930; this population had declined to 2,200 by 1940. A significant population of these early Filipinos were migratory workers, working in the canneries in Puget Sound, and harvesting crops in Yakima Valley.
NEW YORK CITY : Filipinos have resided in New York City since the 1920s settling near Brooklyn Navy Yard. In 1960, there were only 2,744 Filipinos in New York City. In 1970, there were 14,279 Filipinos in New York State. A high percentage of Filipino healthcare professionals continues.
NEVADA : Five Filipinos were documented in Nevada in 1920; the population increased to 47 in 1930. The first known Filipinos to arrive in Clark County arrived from California during the Great Depression. Filipinos arriving in the mid-20th century settled primarily around Fifth and Sixth Streets, and an enclave remains in this area.
FLORIDA : In 1910, there was a single Filipino living in Florida, this population increased to 11 in 1920, and 46 in 1930.
VIRGINIA : The first year that Filipinos were documented in Virginia by the United States Census Bureau was in 1920, when 97 Filipinos were counted; by 1930, that population increased to 126. In 1970, there were 7,128 Filipinos living in Virginia, 5,449 of whom lived in the Norfolk-Portsmouth metropolitan area.