Filipinos in Hawaiʻi

Filipinos were the first Asians to cross the Pacific Ocean, as early as 1587 - fifty years before the first English settlement of Jamestown was established on the continent. From 1565 to 1815, during the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade, Filipinos were forced to work as sailors and navigators on board Spanish Galleons.  (CSU-Chico)

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" or Spanish-speaking Filipinos - jumped ship to escape the brutality of their Spanish masters.  (CSU-Chico)

During the War of 1812, Filipinos from Manila Village (near New Orleans) were among the "Batarians" who fought against the British with Jean Lafitte in the Battle of New Orleans.

Filipino’s Spanish connection came to an end after the Spanish-American War in 1898 when America wanted to control the Philippines. Unknown to Filipinos, through the Treaty of Paris (April 11, 1899,) Spain sold the Philippines to the US for $20-million, thus ending over 300 years of Spanish colonization.

In Hawaiʻi, shortage of laborers to work in the growing (in size and number) sugar plantations became a challenge.  Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed “An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants,” a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

Of the large level of plantation worker immigration, the Chinese were the first (1850,) followed by the Japanese (1885.)  After the turn of the century, the plantations started bringing in Filipinos.  Over the years in successive waves of immigration, the sugar planters brought to Hawaiʻi 46,000-Chinese, 180,000-Japanese, 126,000-Filipinos, as well as Portuguese, Puerto Ricans and other ethnic groups.

For the first 15-Filipino sakadas (probably derived from the Ilocano phrase “sakasakada amin”, meaning, barefoot workers struggling to earn a living) who got off the SS Doric on December 20, 1906, amid stares of curious onlookers, the world before them was one of foreboding.  The 15-pioneers would soon be joined by thousands of their compatriots, thanks to the relentless recruitment of the Hawaiʻi Sugar Planters’ Association (HSPA). (Aquino)

Upon arrival in Hawaiʻi, Filipino contract laborers were assigned to the HSPA-affiliated plantations throughout the territory. Their lives would now come under the dictates of the plantation bosses. They had no choice as to which plantation or island they would be assigned. Men from the same families, the same towns or provinces were often broken up and separated.  (Alegado)

Between 1906 and 1930, the HSPA brought in approximately 120,000-Filipinos to Hawaiʻi, dramatically altering the territory's ethnic demographics.    (Aquino)

By the 1920s, Filipinos in Hawaiʻi were still largely male, men outnumbered women by nearly seven to one, and unmarried. They represented, at one point, half of the workers in the sugar industry. Initially the Filipinos tended to be "peasants" of lower education than other groups.  (Reinecke)

Comprising only 19-percent of the plantation workforce in 1917, the sakadas jumped to 70-percent by 1930, replacing the Japanese, who had dwindled to 19-percent as the 1930s approached.  (Aquino)

These Filipino pioneers were known as the “manong generation” since most of them came from Ilokos Sur, Iloilo, and Cavite in the Philippines (manong is an Ilokano term principally given to the first-born male in a Filipino nuclear family who serves as one of the leaders in the extended family.)

During this later time, particularly during the Great Depression, Filipinos had to compete against other ethnic groups to earn a living. Tensions grew.

This eventually led to the passing of the Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934, which officially provided for Philippine independence and self-government; it also limited Filipino immigration to the US to 50-per year.

The work was hard, it was dirty work (literally with soot  and mud) and monotonous and dangerous work; there was no future in it, in that as one grew older and weaker one earned less money, and that the work was tiring and thus the need to recuperate often. Among Filipinos, when they got paid they would go to Honolulu by train and not come back for a week. Not to worry: "We could always get our jobs back because it was the worst job working in the fields and nobody else would do it."  (Alcantara)

Working conditions and wage disparities lead to worker unrest, eventually leading to the formation of labor unions; they formed the Filipino Labor Union.  In 1924 and again in 1935 the Filipinos struck along racial lines; the Filipino workers and their families were evicted from their homes and left to fend for themselves, their leaders were jailed.

Then, in 1935, President Roosevelt, as part of his New Deal legislation, passed the Wagner Act giving workers the legal right to organize unions that could demand employer recognition.

Following WW II (May 21, 1945,) pro-labor legislature passed the landmark Hawaiʻi Employees Relations Act, popularly called the Little Wagner Act, which extended the rights of collective bargaining to agricultural workers. The legislature extended the provisions of the wage and hour law to cover agricultural workers and set minimum wages.

The International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) proceeded to organize on all sugar plantations, and by the end of 1945, the ILWU had contracts industry-wide.

Bargaining on the employers’ side was conducted by the Hawaiʻi Employers Council (non-profit and voluntary,) formed to conduct the bargaining and negotiate contracts with unions - thus the ILWU bargained not with the plantations but with the Hawaiʻi Employers Council.

Over the years, the Filipino community has largely been working class; but there is now a growing number of management, professional and related occupations (including professionals such as doctors, nurses, therapists, teachers, lawyers, engineers and business executives.)  (hawaii-edu)

In 1959, the "First Annual Convention of Filipino Community Associations of Hawaiʻi" was held under the theme, "Statehood and the Filipinos in Hawaiʻi."

Concurrent with the convention, a Fiesta Filipina celebration was held where Leticia Quintal, a UH history major, was crowned as "the first Miss Philippines-Hawaiʻi." (That pageant award was later changed to Miss Hawaiʻi Filipina.)  Out of the convention and fiesta was born the United Filipino Council of Hawaiʻi.

In an editorial entitled "The Filipino Contribution," the Honolulu Advertiser of June 19, 1959, noted: "There is a sense of urgency as able Consul General Juan C. Dionisio encourages Americans of Filipino ancestry - and Philippine nationals too - to organize and play a bigger part in Hawaiian affairs."  (United Filipino Council of Hawaiʻi)

With a note of optimism, the editorial further pointed out: "The Filipinos, who have been doing right well under individual steam, now can be expected to progress even faster."  (United Filipino Council of Hawaiʻi)

According to the 2010 census, Filipinos and part-Filipinos is the State’s second largest racial group.  The three largest racial groups in Hawaiʻi are (1) Caucasian (564,323;) (2) Filipinos and part-Filipinos (342,095 and (3) Japanese or part-Japanese (312,292.)

The image shows Filipinos hand-harvesting sugar.  In addition, I have added other related images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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World War II - Italian POWs

On July 7, 1937, Japan invaded China to initiate the war in the Pacific; while the German invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, unleashed the European war.

World War II (WWII or WW2), also known as the Second World War, was a global war that was underway by 1939 and ended in 1945.

 Italy entered World War II on the Axis side on June 10, 1940, as the defeat of France became apparent.  On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor and the US entered the conflict.

World War II was fought between two sets of partners: the Allies and the Axis. The three principal partners in the Allies alliance were the British Commonwealth, the Soviet Union and the United States; the three principal partners in the Axis alliance were Germany, Italy and Japan.

During World War II, American forces captured 50,000 Italian soldiers and sailors.  5,000 Italian prisoners of war were sent to Hawaiʻi and held at Schofield, Kāneʻohe, Kalihi Valley and Sand Island.

Japanese Americans were also incarcerated in at least eight locations on Hawaiʻi.  On December 8, 1941, the first detention camp was set up on Sand Island.

The Sand Island Detention Center held war captives as well as civilians of Japanese, German or Italian ancestry who were under investigation.

This Italian prisoner contingent was highly skilled in construction and engineering, and as a voluntary effort they were used extensively on many construction projects around the island where skilled labor was, at that time, in short supply, particularly around Honolulu Harbor, Sand Island, etc. (Ponza - Army-mil)

"For the most part, the US Army welcomed their labor and skills in construction of needed military facilities."  (Moreo)

"At the end of each day, the Italians would salvage whatever waste materials were about as well as scouring and scooping up cement from spillage."  (Moreo)

With this salvaged material the Italian POWs built buildings and works of art (fountains and statues) at various locations on Oʻahu (these pieces are at Schofield Barracks, Fort Shafter, Sand Island and the Immigration Building.)

The Mother Cabrini Chapel, designed by POW Astori Rebate, “was huge, with an alter, and two large paintings of Mother Cabrini all done by the POWs.  The chapel had a full basement for vestments and religious articles.  Out in front of the chapel, the area was paved and filled by ‘well constructed benches acting as pews for a thousand or more worshippers.’”  (Moreo)

The Italian POWs "decided to dedicate to the memory of Mother Cabrini, who was at that time being considered for sainthood for her earlier good works in the United States, and who was subsequently canonized as the first American saint by the Vatican around the year 1946."  (Ponza -army-mil)

Upon the chapel's completion, Sunday mass was celebrated every week with the prisoners exiting the prison compound in order to attend the services, seating themselves in the open air pews. As word spread to the adjoining areas, Pearl City, Honolulu, Nanakuli, and even as far as Waikiki, a small group of Catholic worshipers started to drive up to the chapel on Sunday mornings to attend the services."  (Ponza - army-mil)    In the way of Kamehameha Highway construction, it was torn down in 1948.

At Sand Island, "(a)t sunset, hundreds of Italians formed a male chorale and sang for an hour. It became widely known and so popular that visitors came in the evening to listen and applaud."  (Moreo)

At Fort Shafter, a fountain crowned with pineapples was designed and crafted by POW Alfredo Giusti, with winged lions and topped with pineapples.  (Reportedly, Giusti inscribed his name and address on the north side of the fountain.)

Dedicated to give hope to those without hope, Giusti also crafted two statues, “The Hula Dancer” and “The Bathing Beauty,”) which now sit outside the Coast Guard administration building on Sand Island.

A hard-to-see fountain crafted by the Italians is within the secured Immigration Center on Ala Moana Boulevard (you can see it through a chain link fence on the makai/Fort Armstrong side of the facility.)

The war ended in December 1945 and the Italian POWs were repatriated in 1946, having left some lasting legacies of the war and their time in Hawaiʻi.  (Unfortunately, due to increased security concerns, access is restricted at the facilities where their work is located.)

The image shows the Giusti fountain at Fort Shafter.  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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Immigration Station

By the middle of the 19th century the Hawaiian population had declined drastically through the impacts of disease and epidemics and  the  dispersal  of  the young men of  the  Kingdom on whaling  ships  and  seeking their  fortunes  in  the California gold  fields.

In 1850, the Hawaiian population was down to 46,500.  At the same time the American occupation of California and Oregon gave the islands a large, relatively close market for agricultural crops.

Starting in the 1850s, when the Hawaiian Legislature passed "An Act for the Governance of Masters and Servants," a section of which provided the legal basis for contract-labor system, labor shortages were eased by bringing in contract workers from Asia, Europe and North America.

In  1852,  the  first  group of  200  Chinese  labor  contract  immigrants were brought  in  to work in  the  sugar  plantations.   In the hundred years from 1850 to 1950, over 350,000 labor immigrants were brought in to supply workers for the plantations and to augment a declining population with people of kindred races.

For nearly one hundred years immigrants arriving in Hawaiʻi had their initial processing in the area of the present immigration building at the entrance to Honolulu Harbor.

In  the  19th  century they came  over  the  channel wharf to  be  processed at  the  pavilion and  quarters  of  the  Kingdom's  Quarantine and Immigration Depot built in 1879 on what was  popularly called Fisherman's Point.

King Kalākaua, who personally initiated Japanese immigration in a visit to the Emperor, visited the station to greet the initial group of Japanese laborers arriving in 1886.  After a hospitable welcome which  included entertainment  of hula dancers,  he  invited  some of the group to  the  Palace  to  display  their  skill  at  fencing.  (NPS)

The United States government took over immigration matters after annexation and built new structures out over the mud flats (which opened July 4, 1905.)

The buildings were designed to fit the climate and atmosphere of Hawaiʻi and to be an inviting place for immigrants to come through.  (This was the first use of terra cotta in Hawaiʻi.)

Although Herbert C.  Clayton was  the architect who  contracted  to  design the building,  it  is  quite evident  that  the architect associated with him for this project had the major design role,  CW Dickey.

The entrance portico designed by Dickey as  the most  important  architectural feature  of  the  building reflects  Hawaiʻi and  the  Immigration Station  function as  a bridge between East  and West.

The  portico is accented by Chinese architectural details  and  the  large bronze  compass  plaque  set  in the  floor  of  the  entrance  lobby shows  Hawaiʻi as  the  crossroads  of  the Pacific by  indicating distances  to  principle  cities  on  the  Pacific rim.

An interview with Mr. Dickey on July 27, 1934 in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin best describes the intent and execution of the complex in the designer's own words:
"In designing the new immigration station buildings the main objective was a group of buildings expressing the spirit and environment of Hawaiʻi and at the same time maintaining well balanced and well-proportioned masses, graceful lines and a pleasing color effect."

"This meant a wide departure from the more or less stereotyped stations of the mainland and it required no small amount of persuasion and diplomacy to get such a design accepted...."

“In general  the buildings  consist of  low lying masses of  cream colored stucco walls  surmounted by graceful  sloping roofs of variegated green and russet  tiles."

A special  area was  designed into  the building to  provide a  "matrimonial" room where Japanese girls, who had been married by proxy  in  Japan to men  living  in  Hawaiʻi,  met  their husbands for  the  first  time  and were  formally married.  These picture brides numbered 14,276 between the years 1907 and 1923.

Mr. AE Burnett, for many years the District Director of Immigration, hoped that the buildings would serve as a model for other stations across the nation.

The Dickey designed buildings were placed on the National Register of Historic Places (much of the information here came from those records.)

(By the way, in the existing immigration center, there is a fountain put in by Italian POWs from WWII – unfortunately, it is in a secured area and you can’t get directly to it.  However, you can see it through a chain link fence on the back side (makai) of the building.)

The image shows the Immigration Station in 1905; this was replaced by the present Dickey-designed facility.  (Lots of information here from NPS.)  In addition, I have added additional images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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