Coming To America

But he's moving on full steam
He's chasing the American dream
And he's gonna give his family the finer things

~Casting Crowns, “American Dream”

In 1928, when he was only 15, Raymondo G. Perla lied about his age. Claiming to be 18 years old, he boarded the American Mail Lines ship President Madison with two friends from Janiuay, Iloilo; Eduardo Pacificar and Carlos Palmejar. Uncle Raymond and Uncle Eddie had been promised jobs by a farm labor contractor. Now, all three boys were sailing off to America.

SS President Madison

Uncle Raymond and Uncle Eddie had been lucky to find jobs before they left. Few employment opportunities were available to the men of the Manong Generation. All of the available choices were low paying. So what could a poor boy do? If a Manong cast his lot in a large city, he was doomed become a dishwasher, busboy, or domestic servant. If he was lured to the promise of beautiful Hawaii, he would work endless hours the sugar cane fields under the relentless sun. If he went north to Washington or Alaska, he would work in the canneries with the stench of fish and discomfort of cold, damp conditions. Finally, like Uncle Raymond and Uncle Eddie, a Manong could become a farm worker in California’s inland valleys following the crops and enduring back breaking work with the short hoe.

“One of the worst experiences for farm workers was the use of the “short handle hoe.” Many disabilities and pains can still be directly connected to bending down to weed the fields with the short handle hoe.”

~ The Ceasar Chavez Foundation

Excited by the prospect of having found employment, Uncle Raymond and Uncle Eddie were bound for California. They left Manila on April 7th and arrived at the port of San Francisco on May 3, 1928. Uncle Raymond and Uncle Eddie knew they were the lucky ones, two town mates together who would look out for each other. They would not be alone in America. They were confident that everything was going to go well. Besides, they had the address of the farmer who had promised them work: P. O. Box 61, Mt. Eden, California.

“Saan ka pupunta?"
("Where are you going?")

Mt. Eden, once a site of shipping and salt harvesting, has now been incorporated into Hayward. The first European settlers in Mt. Eden, California were pioneers from Mt. Eden, Kentucky who came to California as part of the Gold Rush. Unfortunately, this group of pioneers arrived a bit too late. When the group reach the San Francisco Bay, the men selected to go their separte ways. However, a small number choose to settle right there at the cross roads where they stood. Their first action was to nail up a sign reading "Mt. Eden" between two trees. Thus the new town bore the name of their old Kentucky home.

“it should be said, that in this vicinity there is the finest soil in the whole valley, as the magnificent orchards, splendid gardens, and ripe grain-fields indicate.

~1883 History of Alameda County, California

By 1928, immigrants were nothing new to Mt. Eden. Danish, German, and Azorean families had settled in the area. All of these immigrants faced discrimination towards new comers, discrimination towards those of lower social classes, discrimination towards those who practiced non-protestant religions, and discrimination towards those who spoke another language or spoke English with an accent. When Japanese and Filipino farm laborers arrived, they faced the added stigma of being visually different.

While still rural, Mt. Eden was not cut off from the rest of the world. The South Pacific Railway Company service running from Santa Cruz to the Oakland waterfront passed through Mt. Eden. The train made both travel and the transportation of crops quite easy. Uncle Raymond and Uncle Eddie rode it into town.

Author's Aside: Having been born and raised in Kentucky, only 32 miles from the original Mount Eden, I find myself wondered if Uncle’s first job in Mt. Eden, California was an amusing trick of cosmic foreshadowing. Who could have imagined during 1928, a period of overt racism, that Uncle’ s future American born godson would one day marry the great great daughter of Southern slave owners? And they say there are no happy ending!

A staged photo in front of the fields in which they worked was taken to reassure friends and family of Uncle Raymond’s safe arrival in California.