A Century of Challenge and Change: The Filipino American Story
The inaugural Filipino American Centennial Commemoration program provided an overview of Filipino American history—from American colonization of the Philippines at the turn of the century to the Immigration Act of 1965.
Time:
Friday, February 10, 2006, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Location:
Carmichael Auditorium
National Museum of American History
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Panelists discussed the history of immigrants who arrived in Hawai‘i beginning in 1906 to work on the sugar plantations, and those who migrated to the mainland. Panelists highlighted those who came in the 17th century with the Manila Acapulco Galleon trade and settled in Louisiana, as well as the pensionados who came as early as 1903. Panelists also discussed the “bridge generation,” or the second-generation Filipino Americans, and the formation and development of Filipino American communities on the East and West Coasts during the 1940s and ’50s.
This program served as historical background to the Centennial and provided an overview to the Filipino American exhibition scheduled to open at the Ripley Center in May 2006.
Panelists included Enrique de la Cruz, Professor of Asian American Studies at California State University, Northridge; Dean Algado, Associate Professor and Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa; Pauline Agbayani, Professor and Coordinator of the School of Social Work at California State University; and Angel Velasco Shaw, filmmaker, cultural activist, curator, and educator.
Discussion