Little Manila Project
FANHS Stockton
PO Box 4616
Stockton CA 95204
StocktonFANHS@aol.com
(209) 462-3489
(209) 956-1728
© FANHS Stockton 2001
[Please visit littlemanila.net for updated information]
Little Manila Project
As most of you know, Dawn Mabalon, along with our chapter, was able to obtain the approval of designating a portion of downtown Stockton, known as "Little Manila", as a historic district on Oct. 17, 2000. Stockton's City Council members voted unanimously to approve our proposal.
Our thanks also go to all the people who supported our efforts -- community members, city officials, all FANHS members (local and national), and everyone else who contributed.
On October 26, 2002, site markers and banners were unveiled at the site during a day-long extravaganza! Please visit the Little Manila Foundation website to find out more information about what happened on this historic day! Also check out what is currently happening with the project - we need to SAVE LITTLE MANILA!
Support the Project! Buy the T-Shirt!
Demolition of Stockton's Little Manila - Article from the May 19, 1999, issue of the Record which covered the demolition of one of the last blocks of the Little Manila area.
Some of our supporters
A "Thank You" from Dawn Mabalon
This is a letter I sent to the editor of the Stockton Record this morning. It attempts to convey the sense of gratitude and utang na loob that I feel for everyone for their advice, support, and guidance. A most sincere thanks to everyone. The work is just beginning.
Maraming, maraming salamat,
Dawn B. Mabalon
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Editor,
We made Filipina/o American history, Stockton history, and national history last Tuesday evening when the council voted unanimously to designate the four blocks surrounding the intersection of Lafayette and El Dorado streets a city historic site. For too many years, that area has suffered from the urban renewal projects of the 1960s which destroyed much of Little Manila, Chinatown, and Japantown, and then, in a final blow, the demolition of half of one block for the Gateway Project. Too few people know of the vibrant community that had occupied those four blocks -- the largest Filipino community outside of the Philippines -- but we have begun a process of reclaiming and renewal.
As a member of the Filipino American National Historical Society, Stockton Chapter, and as chair of our Little Manila Project, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to the hundreds of supporters who signed petitions, wrote letters of support, and attended meeting after meeting with the Cultural Heritage Board, the Redevelopment Commission, the Planning Commission, and our final and victorious meeting with the City Council. I would also like to thank Leslie Crowe of the Stockton Cultural Heritage Board for her early support and guidance in this project, and for walking us through the bureaucratic loopholes. It was a certainly a collective effort. October is Filipino American History Month, and there couldn't have been a better way to celebrate it!
The diversity of our supporters through this year-long process was amazing. High schoolers, twenty- and thirtysomethings, baby boomers, and octogenarian pioneers sat together in meetings in support. We received letters of support from as far away as the East Coast, Hawaii, and Chicago, from college students hundreds of miles away who had learned about Little Manila in their Asian American and Filipino American history classes, and from the Smithsonian Institute. Most importantly, the support from our Stockton community was overwhelming, passionate, and moving. The impassioned letters and testimony we received from former residents and descendants of Little Manila proves that the community lives on as long as it lives in our memories.
In our plans for the area, we have envisioned a memorial plaque or monument, and a Filipino American National Museum is being planned for downtown. We also plan to apply for state and national historic site status. We will continue to need your input and support as we design the memorial, and as we reclaim Little Manila for our youth and for the next generation of Filipina/o Americans in Stockton. Again, maraming, maraming salamat (thank you very much).
Sincerely,
Dawn Bohulano Mabalon, Ph.C.
Member, Filipino American National Historical Society, Stockton Chapter
Ph.D. Candidate, Stanford University
Chairperson, Little Manila Landmark Project
The Juanitas Market located in "Little Manila" in the 1950s.