Little Manilas

At the time of the 1930 Census, Uncle Raymond, age 17, was living with Uncle Del on Telegraph Avenue in Mt. Eden, California. Uncle Raymond was listed as Uncle Del’s nephew. Both men were listed as Negro and employed as laborers/gardeners. Possibly due to the communication issues which arose between two parties speaking different native tongues, the Census taker listed Delphine Gaumatico as E. P. Senmatico. (Note to those who wish to research using Census records: Census takers are human and tire after a long day of knocking on doors and interviewing residents. Errors in Census information such as incorrect or phonetic spelling of names, incorrect dates of birth, and even the incorrect sex of the individuals listed are not uncommon. Double check the data you find with other sources.)

In the 1930’s, Filipinos were still classified as nationals and as such were ineligible for U.S. citizenship, could not vote, could not start a business, could not hold a civil service or government job, and could not could not own land or real estate. Thus, Uncle Del and Uncle Raymond were renting.

“…Filipino men used available rental space efficiently. Migratory field hands who lived off of seasonal income especially had to be cost conscious…” [i]

In California cities from Sacramento to Los Angles, Manongs found themselves facing racial segregation as they applied to rent rooms or apartments. Frequently, due to racial and economic restrictions, Manongs were limited to rental accommodations in low rent areas. Many times, they chose to settle near Chinese or Japanese enclaves. “Little Manilas,” also known as Manilatowns or Filipinotowns, sprang up in Stockton, San Francisco, Los Angles, San Diego, and Long Beach. These little islands of acceptance, filled with Filipino markets, cafes, pool halls, social clubs, and dance halls, offered the familiarity of their home culture and became the homes to which Manongs returned to at the end of each work season.

“The Filipino boys all know each other. We are drawn together. We all come from the same place. We feel at home here."[ii]

It is no longer possible to see the buildings in which Uncle lived during his early days in the United States. In the late 1950’s Mt. Eden was consumed by urban sprawl and unceremoniously incorporated into the city of Hayward. The area that was once the heart of Mt. Eden now lies under a nondescript freeway interchange. Only Telegraph Avenue remains, renamed as Hesperian Boulevard.

Little remains of the Mt. Eden of the 1920’s and 30’s

“The pioneer generation was also versed in using the legal system. For a long time, I had assumed that legal housing segregation by race and national origin had been eliminated by the 1968 Civil Rights Act. Certainly one of the first thing sour parents taught my siblings and me even before we started school was knowing the different racial and ethnic neighborhoods in San Francisco and their boundaries. We initially lived in a flat in Japantown, which was the buffer zone between the blacks of the Fillmore and the whites of Pacific Heights. It was only by looking at old family pictures, with my college friends Anita Sanchez and Joe Alfafara that I learned about the California Supreme Court case Alfafara vs.Foss (1945) 26C2d358. Celestino Alfafara, Joe’s Uncle, successfully challenged the California 1921 Alien Land Act, which prohibited aliens not eligible for citizenship from owning property. In June 1944, Mr. Alfafara had entered into a contract to purchase land in San Mateo for Sixty-five dollars. Bernice Foss, the owner of the land, refused to convey the property, citing the Alien Land Act. The Court ruled that Celestino Alfafara was not an alien but a U. S. national who owed allegiance solely to the United States and not to a foreign government (the Philippines was then a commonwealth). Alfafara was another step forward in greater civic participation and equality for Filipino Americans specifically, and in general for other Americans, paving the way for other steps that culminated in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, also known as the Fair Housing Act.”[iii]

The following three photographs show Manongs with whom Uncle shared housing during the 1930’s. If you recognize any of these gentlemen, please contact me.

Uncle Raymond (right)

Uncle Raymond (left)

Unable to determine individuals or location with certainty

ENDNOTES
[i] Guevarra, Rudy, Jr. “Skid Row: Filipinos, Race and the Social Construction of Space in San Diego” The Journal of San Diego History
[ii] Maniliatown Heritage Foundation. “Our Past: Seeds of the Community” http://www.manilatown.org/ourpast.htm
[iii] Lott, Juanita Tamayo. “Common Destiny: Filipno American Generations” p. 34