Landmark Filipino American exhibit opens at Smithsonian Museum

WASHINGTON, DC – In 2005, Antonio Somera was cleaning out the basement of the Daguhoy Lodge in Stockton, California, which is owned by the Legionarios del Trabajo fraternal organization. To his surprise, he discovered a basement filled with dozens of luggage piled on top of each other. They were suitcases and large steamer trunks (also called “foot lockers”) that early Filipino immigrants carried when they boarded ships for America and when they traveled as migrant labor around the country.

Inside this and other trunks were a time capsule from the early-1900s containing piles of letters, photographs, employment documents, union membership cards, citizenship and residency papers, military records from their US Army service in World War II, suits, ties, dress shoes, farm tools (asparagus knives and grape vine cutters), and fraternal uniforms.

As an American colony, Filipinos were considered US “nationals” and were allowed to freely immigrate to America. Most of these early Filipino immigrants came from the Ilocos and Visayan regions.

In the 1920s and 1930s, many Filipinos did not own property due to alien land laws preventing Asians from owning property. Thus, the Daguhoy Lodge, like many of the community organizations in America, acted as de facto homes for Filipino migrant workers.

They rented rooms in these lodges, Filipino community buildings, and even Filipino-owned hotels when they were in Stockton during the asparagus harvest season. Once the harvest season was over, Filipinos would leave to other areas, such as, Salinas and Watsonville, to pick strawberries and lettuce, and to Fresno to pick grapes. In the summer, they migrated all the way to Seattle and Alaska to work in the fish canneries.

As migrant workers, Filipinos at the Daguhoy Lodge carried their suitcases and trunks to their farm camps, following the crop harvest season. Upon retirement, they lived out their remaining years at the Lodge. Everything they owned were in their trunks. Since many Filipinos did not have next of kin in America, when they died, their suitcases and trunks were left in storage at the basement.

What Somera uncovered two decades ago was history right before his very eyes.

DRESSED UP. Anastacio Omandam’s Suit & Stetson hat(1930s), bow tie (1922). Photo by Jaclyn Nash/National Museum of American History

Now in full view

Three of these trunks and their contents inspire and anchor the Smithsonian Museum exhibit in Washington, DC. The trunks belonged to three Filipinos who arrived in America in the 1910s and 1920s: Enrique Andales from Cebu, Eusebio Maglinte from Bohol, and Anastacio Omandam from Negros Oriental.

After careful cataloguing and restoration, 50 artifacts from these trunks, along with a few borrowed from other museums, are now on exhibit at the Nicholas F. and Eugenia Taubman Gallery at the Smithsonian Museum.

Braving freezing temperatures on January 15, audiences came from all over the country and abroad to attend this invitation-only event. The largest group were Filipino members of Little Manila Rising (LMR), the primary community organization from Stockton that worked with the Smithsonian to facilitate this exhibit and opening reception that had more than 250 registered guests.

Joel Juanitas is an LMR board member and a master instructor of Bahala na Martial Arts (BNMA), a Filipino martial arts school. He and his wife Jennifer flew all the way from Stockton for the reception.
He recalled that, because of asthma, Somera was reluctant to go down the dusty basement, so Juanitas went down with a flashlight, opened the door, and saw the trunks.

“We brought up the first trunk,” he explained. “And we just broke open the lock.”

Inside this and other trunks were a time capsule from the early-1900s containing piles of letters from the Philippines, photographs, employment documents, citizenship and residency papers, and suits and other clothing, some of which were over 100 years old. Juanitas recalled, “We realized that we were uncovering history.”

STUDIO PHOTOS. Eusebio Maglinte, 1930s and Enrique Andales (right). Photos courtesy of Little Manila Rising and Filipino Agricultural Workers Collection Archives Center/National Museum of American History

With help of BNMA members, Somera cleaned up some of the artifacts, arranged them on tables, and put them on display at the Lodge in what he called, the “Daguhoy Museum,” basically, the first Filipino America museum in Stockton.  

Sadly, Somera died from cancer in 2013, and the trunks were acquired by LMR.

Dillon Delvo, whose Cebuano father Cipriano was one of the pioneering “Manong” generation, is executive director of LMR. He flew in from Stockton with his wife Rebecca and their three daughters. Delvo and Dr. Dawn Mabalon, a history professor at San Francisco State University, co-founded LMR, whose mission is to reclaim and preserve the history of the Filipino American community in Stockton, which was the first and largest Filipino community in California and the Mainland from the 1920s to 1960s.

Speaking at the opening reception, Delvo acknowledged Mabalon’s important research, scholarship and historic preservation role to the Little Manila community. He praised Somera for his discovery of the trunks. Barely holding back tears, Delvo explained that Somera “was passionate about telling the stories of our ancestors. He loved these trunks and artifacts. His work in finding these trunks and artifacts is a priceless gift to our community … and now to the Smithsonian.”

Delvo also acknowledged the important role of Sojin Kim and Lisa Sasaki of the Smithsonian for initially contacting Little Manila Rising and suggesting the idea of donating the trunks to the Museum for historic preservation.

Speaking as director of the Smithsonian Museum, Dr. Anthea M. Hartig acknowledged the important contribution of Dr. Mabalon. Hartig visited Stockton in 2005 as a committee member of the National Trust for Historical Preservation that designated Stockton’s “Little Manila” as an endangered historic site in America.

Mabalon showed her the newly discovered trunks and both Hartig knew immediately the significance of the discovery. Quoting from Mabalon’s classic book, Little Manila is in the Heart, which is about the history of Stockton’s Little Manila community, Hartig said, “This discovery could be counted as one of the most significant finds on Filipino and Filipina American History to date.”

CELEBRATING THE PAST. Dr. Anthea M. Hartig, director of the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History, speaking at the opening reception of the ‘How Can You Forget Me: Filipino American Stories’ exhibit. Over 205 registered guests were in attendance. Photo by James Sobredo, PhD

Hartig further noted that, because, it is now on display at the Smithsonian Museum, America’s premier national history museum, even more people will appreciate the importance of these Filipino American artifacts and the story of Filipino immigration: “Now it will be exposed to thousands and thousands of visitors each day.”

Organized and funded by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center (APAC), “How Can You Forget Me” is the first Filipino American exhibit at the Museum.

Dr. Yao-Fen You, APAC’s acting director, explained in an interview that the exhibit is also APAC’s “first exhibition here at the American History” Museum at the Smithsonian. This Filipino American exhibit is “a crucial chapter of American history that has not been told,” Dr. You stated. She hopes it will lead to the creation of a dedicated museum for Asian Pacific Americans.

Philip Merlo, executive director of the San Joaquin County Historical Society Museum, also flew in from Stockton. He recalled that, after graduating from Berkeley’s history department, he was teaching for the Little Manila Rising’s after-school program. While visiting the LMR office, “I saw this collection of trunks, and I immediately knew what they were: That these are so important.”

Today, the remaining trunks are kept and preserved “in perpetuity” at the San Joaquin Museum. Merlo said, “Really they are the crown jewel and one of the most significant and precious things that we have.”
Dr. Sam Vong played a leading role in the acquisition of the trunks and as the Smithsonian Museum curator of the exhibit. Vong traveled to Stockton in 2019 to do a “look see” visit and did the initial examination of the trunks.  He would visit Stockon several more times to work with Dillon Delvo to catalogue the artifacts found in the trunks. Vong hired a locksmith to open the trunks and then careful documented and cataloged the artifacts. Vong facilitated the Smithsonian’s acquisition of one of the trunks as part of their permanent collection.

Among the most valued finds were the three sets of three-piece suits owned by Anastacio Omandam. “The Museum spent thousands of dollars to clean and stabilize the suits,” Vong explained. “This included hiring professional conservators to preserve the suits,” as well as the bow ties and other garments, some of which were over 100-years old.

The suits on display are protected under special UV glass protection. “After six months, we have to rotate them, so the colors on the suits won’t fade,” Vong explained.  “And then we replace them with other objects for another six months to preserve the integrity of the garments.”  

STEAMER TRUNK. Dr. Sam Vong is the curator of the ‘How Can You Forget Me: Filipino American Stories’ exhibit. He is standing beside the steamer trunk of Anastacio Amandam, which is now part of the Smithsonian’s permanent collection. Vong initiated the acquisition of the trunk and worked closely with Dillon Delvo, executive director of Little Manila Rising, to facilitate the acquisition which led to the current exhibit. The remaining trunks were acquired by the San Joaquin Museum where they will be catalogued, cared for, and kept for posterity. Photo by James Sobredo, PhD

The artifacts found in the basement of the Daguhoy Lodge have traveled long distances from the Philippines to the sugar plantations of Hawaii and the farmlands of California. They now have a permanent home at the Smithsonian Museum and the San Joaquin Museum where they will be properly kept, cared for, and preserved for posterity.

Now that thousands of visitors will be viewing this Smithsonian exhibit representing the life and journey to America of Omandam and thousands of Filipinos, Dillon Delvo’s answer to the question, “How Can You Forget Me,” is a resounding: “YOU are NOT forgotten.” – Rappler.com

For more information about the exhibit, check this out.

James Sobredo, PhD, is professor emeritus of ethnic studies at Sacramento State University. He specialized in Filipino American immigration history and Filipino global migration. He lives in both Manila and Sausalito in California.