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FAHM - Filipino American History Month

October is Filipino American History Month.  This page is dedicated for describing the events, facts, and links of Filipino American History Month hosted by FASA.

Events 2007

Facts

 

  1. Back in the 1920's and '30's, the ratio of men to women was 20 to 1 (because of World War I). In some places it was 40 to 1. Therefore, states like California made laws banning Filipinos from marrying white women in their states.
  2. Did you know that the former Governor of the State of Hawaii was a Filipino-American named Benjamin Cayetano? He was the highest-ranking Filipino-American in politics to date.
  3. Major General Edward Soriano of the U.S. Army became the second highest-ranking Asian Pacific American in active-duty military service this past July 1997.
  4. In 1763, Filipinos made their first permanent settlement in the bayous and marshes of Louisiana. As sailors and navigators on board Spanish galleons, Filipinos, also known as "Manilamen," jumped ship to escape the brutality of their Spanish masters.
  5. Did you know that a Filipino-American named Eduardo San Juan designed the Lunar Rover or "moon buggy," which was used by the Apollo astronauts to explore the moon?
  6. Did you know that at George Washington University, something is named after a Filipino-American? The Gelman Library named the circulation desk (1st floor) after Jonathan Melegrito for his 25 years of service to the university.
  7. Venancio C. Igarta, an artist, was the first Filipino to be exhibited at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  8. In the early 1900's, Filipinos came to the U.S. and settled down in many areas. In Hawaii, Filipinos worked on sugar cane plantations. Filipinos also came to the West Coast, where they worked many long hours on farms and in the agricultural fields, picking grapes, asparagus, lettuce and other fruits and vegetables. In Alaska, they worked in the fish canneries.
  9. Filipinos first crossed the Pacific Ocean as early as 1587, fifty years before the first English settlement of Jamestown was established.
  10. Bobby Balcena was the first Filipino-American in the major leagues. He debuted on September 16, 1956 with the Cincinnati Reds and played until 1962.
  11. Through the Treaty of Paris, Spain sold the Philippines to the United States for $20 million on April 11, 1899, ending over 300 years of Spanish colonization.
  12. Rob Schneider is a Filipino-American. You may know him from Saturday Night Live and movies like "The Hot Chick," "The Animal," and "Down Periscope."
  13. Where did the term Pinoy originate? It is believed that the term originated from the early Filipinos who came to the United States.
  14. It was on October of 1890 that San Miguel Beer was born. San Miguel was the first brewery in Southeast Asia.
  15. In 1781, Antonio Miranda Rodriguez Poblador, a Filipino, along with 44 other individuals were sent by the Spanish government from Mexico to establish what is now known as the city of Los Angeles.
  16. Loida Nicolas Lewis is chairman and CEO of TLC Beatrice International Holdings, Inc., a multi-national food company with sales of $2.1 billion per year. Working Woman magazine hailed her as the top businesswoman in the country for 1994.
  17. The fourth wave of Filipino immigration to the United States began after the passage of the Immigration Act of 1965 and continues to the present day. This allowed the entry of as many as 20,000 immigrants annually. This wave was also called the "brain drain," and consisted mainly of professionals: doctors, lawyers, nurses, engineers, as well as the military.
  18. On October 25, 1944, General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his promise to return to the Philippines. After destroying the Japanese fleet in the Gulf of Leyte, General MacArthur, then in the company of the greatest armada ever to sail the Pacific, landed in Palo, Leyte.
  19. Did you know that Tamlyn Tomita, from the "Karate Kid II" and the "Joy Luck Club" is part Filipina?
  20. The 3rd wave of Filipino immigration was from 1945-1965. Filipinos from the Philippines joined the U.S. Navy to fight against the Japanese.
  21. The Philippines was named after the Crown Prince Philip II of Spain. He was reputed to be an extreme introvert, humorless, and unpopular. Dubbed the "Spider of the Escorial" because he seldom left his palace, Philip II reigned over the vast Spanish empire handed down by his father, Charles V, and was a leading patron of Catholicism.
  22. Did you know that in the state of California, there are more Filipinos than Chinese? In San Diego County, Filipino Americans are the largest Asian Pacific Islander group.
  23. Did you know that Dr. Abelardo Aguilar, a Filipino-American, discovered the now widely used antibiotic known by its generic term as erthyromycin?
  24. Both Ruben Aquino and Cynthia Ignacio were instrumental in the creation of the Disney animation film, "The Lion King."

 

Links

General overview of Filipino American History Month
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filipino_American_History_Month

Filipino American History Timeline
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~runamuck/filipino_american_history_chrono2.htm

Filipino American Bicentennial
http://www.apa.si.edu/filamcentennial/

Comprehensive resource on Filipino Americans
http://www.filipinoamericans.net/index.shtml