Filipinos are a community nearly 2.5-million strong in the United States in 2007. At the turn of the 20th century, the first wave of Filipino migration began, continuing until the start of World War II.
During this time span, sponsored students, veterans of the Philippine-American War and their families, and young men recruited in the Philippines to serve in the U.S. military or work in California and Hawaii's expanding agricultural industries would all arrive in the United States. On the San Francisco Bay Area's eastern shore, Filipino presence in the labor force transitioned with the region's economic and social evolution from mainly farm and service laborers to industrial workers to professional, administrative, and service workers. Today the East Bay is a vibrant center of the Filipino community's deeply rooted and rich cultural, political, and economic life.
As members of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) East Bay Chapter, authors Evangeline Canonizado Buell and Evelyn Luluquisen and coauthors Eleanor Hipol Luis and Lillian Galedo have recorded a community history of the Filipinos who have made the East Bay their home. Friends, family members, and community leaders pulled boxes from storage to open up their personal photo albums, reminisce, and share untold personal stories. This unique collection of images reveals an important, never-before-seen aspect of the East Bay's rich and diverse history. The authors traveled a joyous journey of self-discovery and share their immense pride in being Filipino.
