A martial arts teacher looking for practice space found 26 steamer trunks in the basement of an old building in Stockton. These trunks belonged to former members of the Filipino American fraternal organization called Legionarios Del Trabajo. The contents of those trunks became the basis of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum called How Can You Forget You? Curated by Sam Vong, this exhibit reveals Filipino American Stories of the Manongs, Filipino farm workers who came to the mainland US in the early 20th century.
Stockton and the Manongs
Stockton was once the largest community of Filipinos outside of Asia. A freeway built through the middle of it destroyed it. I grew up turn the last parts of its existence. Only faint memories of Stockton remain from my youth. I remember visiting Filipinos there who had houses with big yards where they grew Filipino vegetables that I had never seen before, such as alugbati (malabar spinach in English).
The title of the exhibition comes from this embroidered pillow case. The curators do not know the original intent of the message. To me, it captures that tragic life of the manongs. Their work in the US was originally to be a temporary work. Sadly, they often would never go home and end up dying alone with no family in the United States.
A Pleasant Surprise at the Smithsonian
The very existence of this exhibit pleasantly surprised me. US government websites pages talking about minorities have been deleted. Displays talking about slavery have been altered. Amazingly enough, displaying the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center’s first how in the museum of American History definitely defies the current zeitgeist. In a historical context, the exhibit covers the beginning years of the Philippine Diaspora. That Diaspora continues today and is a major factor in the Philippine economy was well as to the American health care system.
The Smithsonian Museum of American History is located at 300 Constitution Ave. NW, in Washington, DC. The exhibit closes in 2027. If you are not able to see it in person, here some resources to the history of the manongs:
- The Conversation: Curator Sam Vong writers about the history of the trunks and shows artifacts from the Manongs
- Smithsonian Magazine: Article showing more artifacts from the exhibit
- When Asian Americans are “too American”: Filipino Americans in the 1930’s: 8Asians story about the Filipino immigrants of that error and the relationship with American culture.
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