The Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) is a nonprofit organization that documents

Filipino American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

history.

History

Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) was founded on 26 November 1982 in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, by Dorothy Laigo Cordova and her husband Fred Cordova. The organization states that its mission is “to promote understanding, education, enlightenment, appreciation, and enrichment through the identification, gathering, preservation, and dissemination of the history and culture of Filipino Americans in the United States” with the goal of preserving and documenting Filipino American history. FANHS was first chartered in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

on 7 January 1985. The national office and archives are housed in Seattle. The first board of trustees was elected with 27 members from 12 states on 1 November 1986. In the same year, Fred Cordova created the National Pinoy Archives. Dorothy Cordova served as executive director. Past projects include the video ''Filipino Americans Discovering Their Past for the Future'', the pictorial essay Filipinos: Forgotten Asian Americans; and various regional publications and photo exhibits. FANHS also contributed significantly to the Smithsonian traveling exhibit ''Singgalot: The Ties That Bind'', which documents the history of Filipino Americans in the US.

Filipino American History Month

Under the leadership of Fred Cordova, FANHS established Filipino American History Month (FAHM) in 1992. Since then, FAHM has been recognized by several states including

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over t ...

, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

. In 2009, the U.S. Senate and Congress proclaimed October as Filipino-American History Month. In 2015 and 2016, President Obama officially recognized FAHM in October with a celebration in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

Biennial National Conferences

Since 1987, FANHS has sponsored national conferences (later ratified as a biennial event) where people gather to share and present research, network with other

s, and honor those who have produced innovative work in the field of historical research and analysis. Past conference host cities include: Seattle (1988), New Orleans (1990), Sacramento (1992), Chicago (1994), San Francisco (1996), and New York City (1998). The 2000 conference was hosted by the Hampton Roads Chapter of FANHS in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The theme was "Forever Pinay/Pinoy: Legacies of the Filipino American Experience". The 2002 conference was hosted at

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

in Los Angeles, California. Keynote speakers included Vicki Manalo Draves, the first Filipina/Asian-American Olympian and gold medalist. The 2004 conference was hosted in St. Louis, Missouri. The 2006 conference was hosted by the Filipino American Historical Society of Hawaii in

Honolulu, Hawaii Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

. It included a centennial celebration as it was in 1906 when the first wave of

sakadas Sakadas ( es, sacadas; krj, manga sakada; ilo, dagiti sakada; hil, mga sakada; roughly "imported ones") is a term for migrant workers in and from the Philippines, doing manual agricultural labor. Within the Philippines, sakadas work in province ...

(farm workers) landed in Hawaii. The 2008 conference was hosted by the Alaska Chapter of the organization, in

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

. The theme was "Lure of the Salmon Song" referring to the tens of thousands of Filipino

Alaskeros The Alaskeros are Filipino seasonal migrant workers in the United States and their descendants. They worked in salmon canneries in Alaska during the summer, and on farms in Washington, Oregon, and California during the rest of the year. The Alaske ...

who worked in the Alaskan canneries since 1915. The 2010 conference was held in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, Washington, with the theme, "A Quest for Emergence: A Retrospective." The 2012 conference was held in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

, New Mexico, with the theme "Resilience: A Filipino Legacy in a Global Community." The 2014 conference was held in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, California with the theme "Kapwa: Moving Forward in Unity." A memorial service was held to honor FANHS Founding President Fred Cordova who had died several months prior. The 2016 conference was coordinated by Dr.

Kevin Nadal Kevin Nadal is an author, activist, comedian, and Distinguished Professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and The Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is a researcher and expert on the effects of microag ...

and was held in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The theme was "A Pinoy State of Mind: Building with Our Roots." Speakers included

Jose Antonio Vargas Jose Antonio Vargas (born February 3, 1981) is a journalist, filmmaker, and immigration rights activist. Born in the Philippines and raised in the United States from the age of twelve, he was part of ''The Washington Post'' team that won the P ...

Ali Ewoldt Ali Ewoldt (born October 6, 1982) is a Filipino-American theatre actress, who made her Broadway debut in the ''Les Misérables'' revival in 2006, playing Cosette. She has also performed on national and international tours and in U.S. regional th ...

Paolo Montalbán Paolo Montalban (born May 21, 1973) is a Filipino-American actor and singer best known for his performance in the 1997 Disney television film, '' Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella'' as Prince Christopher, opposite Brandy as Cinderella. He repri ...

, Joe Bataan,

Lorna G. Schofield Lorna Gail Tiangco Schofield (born January 22, 1956) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Biography Schofield was born January 22, 1956, grew up in New Haven, Indiana, and ...

Geena Rocero Geena Rocero (born 1983) is a Filipino-born American model, TED speaker, and transgender advocate based in New York City. Rocero is the founder of Gender Proud, a media production company that tells stories of the transgender community worldwid ...

Ernabel Demillo Ernabel Castro Demillo is an Emmy-award winning American television journalist. She is the host and producer of CUNY TV's monthly magazine show, "Asian American Life", which debuted on June 10, 2013. The premiere show was nominated for a NY N ...

, and

Mia Alvar Mia Alvar is a Filipino-American writer based in New York. She won a PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for ''In the Country''. Life Alvar was born in Manila and at six moved to Bahrain with her parents, joining her uncle already living there. Afte ...

, among others. As of 2018, FANHS has 35 chapters across the country. Each chapter is responsible for collecting historical documentation, memorabilia, and artifacts in their respective areas. FANHS_2016

FANHS National Museum

The city of Stockton was chosen as the future site for the Filipino American National Historical Museum by the FANHS Board of Trustees at the 1994 Conference held in San Francisco. In 2015, the museum opened in Stockton's

Little Manila A Little Manila ( fil, Munting Maynila or ), also known as a Manilatown ( fil, Bayang Maynila) or Filipinotown ( fil, Bayang Pilipino), is a community with a large Filipino immigrant and descendant population. Little Manilas are enclaves of Overs ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

Filipino American National Historical Society Website

Filipino-American National Historical Society Network Website

from the

Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project The Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, one of the Pacific Northwest Labor and Civil Rights History Projects, is dedicated to social movements and labor history in the Pacific Northwest. It is directed by Professor James N. Gregory of ...

Maria Schenk Papers.
1975. Includes interview with Fred Cordova. Asian-American organizations Filipino-American culture