(Dr. Judy Patacsil and Professor Felix Tuyay pose with a copy of "Filipinos in San Diego" during their book signing at the House of the Philippines)
"Filipinos in San Diego," a collection of photos and narratives of Pilipina/o Americans in San Diego in the last century, was officially launched in San Diego this Saturday in the San Diego House of the Philippines located in Balboa Park.
The book contains over 200 images of Pilipina/o Americans in San Diego, from the early Pilipina/o American pioneers who worked as farmworkers and Navy stewards to the Pilipina/o American individuals and organizations of today.
It is part of a series of books called the Images of America published by Arcadia Publishing, collections of archival photographs celebrating the history of neighborhoods and cities across the nation. Other books in this series include: "Filipinos in Chicago," "Filipinos in Los Angeles," "Filipinos in Washington, D.C.," the list goes on (a complete list can be found at Arcadia's website)
Authors Dr. Judy Patacsil, Dr. Rudy Guevarra Jr., and Professor Felix Tuyay spoke at the event and also signed copies of the book. All three are members of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS) San Diego Chapter, whose mission is to "promote understanding, education, enlightenment, appreciation, and dissemination of the history and culture of Filipino Americans in the United States." Many of the photos in this book were contributed by members of FANHS.
This is a beautiful collection of black-and-white photographs documenting not only public events in the Pilipina/o American community over the years, but also giving us an intimate look of the personal lives of fellow Pilipina/o Americans across many generations; this book is filled with photos of families, weddings, baptisms, etc.
The book aims at contributing to current Pilipina/o American literature in order to more accurately depict the Pilipina/o American community. In fact, Dr. Root quotes Pilipina American scholar Maria P.P. Root:
People of Filipino heritage have experiences very different from those of other Asian American groups who are part of this country. Not dominated by Confucian philosophy, oral in tradition, coming from societies that have matriarchal structures and bilateral kinship systems, intersected and invaded by seafarers, traders, military, missionaries, and colonizers, Filipinos of Americas are seldom accurately situated in history or culture and are therefore often misrepresented.
The authors plan on holding two more book signings in San Diego. One will be held on September 7th at 7:00p at Southwestern College in Chula Vista. Another one will held be on October 16th at 2:00p at Miramar College. Books are $20 at the event, and $25 if you order by mail.
