“FOCUSING ON OUR DREAM”
This is my sixth year as Chairperson of the FANHS National Museum Project and I would like to say thanks to all who have supported the project in committees, in meeting, in fundraisers and in guidance. This is my fifth year (of a six year term) as a FANHS Trustee. I’ve also had the honor of serving as past Vice-President and President of the Stockton Chapter FANHS. A lot of ground work has been covered but we still have a lot of work to complete before we officially open the Museum doors to the public.
Our dream of a FANHS National Museum is getting more focused!
The following summary will touch on some ground work we have covered and areas we need to focus more on.
Where we are Financially:
Where we are Administratively:
1. Ground work completed:
2. Areas to focus on:
What is Next?
The Stockton Chapter of FANHS would like to thank all of you who have sent in donations, supported our fundraiser and have offered support.
For more information, please feel free to contact:
Mel LaGasca, Past Stockton Chapter President / Trustee
E-mail: mlagasca@comcast.net
FANHS National Museum Project Report
Mel LaGasca, Chairperson
"OUR DREAM CONTINUES"
It has been four years since I took over as Chairperson of the FANHS National Museum Project, my third year (of a six year term) as a FANHS Trustee and my first year as the President of the Stockton Chapter FANHS. I can honestly say that of my past thirty-five years of doing volunteer work in the community, this is the most challenging and the most rewarding.
Since being asked to be the Chairperson of the Museum, I needed some insight on Museums. I am now in my second year as a Docent at the San Joaquin County Museum in Lodi, California. This Museum is located at Micke Grove Park, just North of Stockton, California. I am gaining valuable information of what it takes to operate a museum. The bloodline of a museum is the volunteer Docents. The Docent Council is credited with thousands of volunteer hours and for raising several thousands of dollars to help with outreach programs. FYI: the ratio of Docents to Paid Staff is 10 to 1.
OUR DREAM OF A FANHS NATIONAL MUSEUM DOES CONTINUE!
We are currently focusing on raising funds to obtain the Museum, which will be a source of pride and education for all that passes through its doors. Additionally, we hope to incorporate a gift shop and rentable conference rooms into the design to help meet expenses.
Where we are Financially:
1. A checking and savings account has been established in the name of FANHS NATIONAL MUSEUM PROJECT.
2. Thanks to The Stockton FILMAPS, Anita Bautista, and various local fundraisers, the Stockton Chapter has been able to raise $40,000.
The initial goal is $2.3 Million. This is to acquire an approximate 5,000 square foot building, office equipment, computer hardware, display material, and to hire a staff of a Director, Administrative Assistant, a Curator of Collections and Displays, and also a Maintenance Person. We estimate it will take approximately $250,000 a year to maintain the staff, pay for utilities, insurance, maintenance of the building, and any other expenses we may incur.
3. The next major step is to use a Business Plan, Case Statement and Market Plan to obtain large grants.
4. We will continue to do fundraisers.
Where we are Administratively:
1. We are currently working on a joint effort with the Stockton, California Little Manila Foundation to house the Museum.
Our Business Plan is currently on hold, pending the Stockton City Council's approval of the Little Manila's LLC Proposal to develop a designated eight (8) block area in downtown Stockton. Some of the buildings have historically significance to Filipinos. The current Emerald Restaurant was the home of the Filipino Social Hall in the 1930's through the 1950's. If the Little Manila Foundation gets selected by the City Council and acquires funding, the Stockton FANHS can negotiate the acquisition of the Emerald Building. Additionally, we are working with the Little Manila Foundation on a Memo of Understanding (MOU) to address financial and administrative issues.
2. Our Marketing Plan and Case Statement is "Under Construction".
3. Our Museum Steering Committee is also "Under Construction".
4. The Stockton FANHS Chapter has developed a generic Museum brochure and pledge sheet.
What is Next?
Continue to raise funds to meet our goals.
We will be submitting our Business Plan to a Small Business Agency for guidance and feedback.
We will seek a person with experience with Foundations and Estate Planning. We want to protect the assets of our Chapter and the Museum.
We are looking at different software programs of how best to keep track of all of our Artifacts. I have spoken with three different local museums regarding their software. Once the Museum gets the critical funding to get started, we will be asking each FANHS Chapter to send us a portable display that reflects the Filipino contributions/accomplishment or activities in their region. Expense issues will be worked out per Chapter.
The Stockton Chapter of FANHS would like to thank all of you who have sent in donations, supported our fundraiser and have offered support.
For more information, please feel free to contact:
Mel LaGasca, President / Trustee
Stockton FANHS
PO Box 4616
Stockton, CA 95204
E-mail: lagasca@gotnet.net
December 2003
Museum Update by Mel LaGasca
We have had a very busy but successful year raising money for the museum and keeping Stockton FANHS in contact with the public.
The Museum Project has around $30,000 which is slightly over the one percent level of our projected $2,300,000 budget to get the project going, with a projected annual budget of $250,000 a year to keep it staffed and operational.
I want to thank all of you for all the support and encouragement toward keeping our dream alive.
June 2003
Filipino American National Historical Museum aka National Pinoy Museum Update by Terri Torres
We finally have commitments from professional individuals to assist in creating the legal documents necessary to complete a "press packet" to present to potential investors for the museum project. Mel LaGasca has been working hard to complete this project to make the dream of having a National Filipino American museum a reality. We're also working hard to make sure our museum gets built in the Little Manila area of Stockton by partnering with the Little Manila Foundation to preserve that historical area. Big things are happening and by October 2003, we shall have a better picture of what the future will hold for our museum. Stay tuned!
October 2002
FANHS NATIONAL PINOY MUSEUM UPDATE By Mel LaGasca
Working this quarter to get legal assistance to review our Bylaws. The primary concerns are owning property and operating a business (museum). Will pursue the idea of a major fundraiser at the Civic Auditorium in August/September of 2003. Thinking of joint venturing with Tony Somera and the Bahala Na Escrima group to do a $50-$100/person fundraiser. I'll keep you posted. It's time we share our story from the "inside" (from the person who has experienced it), and share from the "outside" (from a historian who has researched the subject but not experienced it). Our museum can formalize that process. The National Pinoy Museum needs a logo -- does a logo contest sound OK? Send Mel your suggestions by December 30, 2002. Keep collecting your history! Museum fund is currently at $9,000 plus.
October 2001
NATIONAL PINOY MUSEUM by Acting Chairperson Mel LaGasca
We have a dream that some day downtown Stockton will become home to the FANHS National Pinoy Museum (NPM). For just a minute imagine yourself walking through a 5,000 sq. ft. building. As you entered you would see space for displays, space for a gift shop, a conference/presentation room audio/visual/Internet capabilities, storage/workshop space, office space for a Museum Director, Administrative Assistant, System (Computer) Administrator, Handyman (Carpenter) and a host of volunteers. The NPM would possibly be open to the public Tuesday through Saturday.
Our dream has a price. We are estimating an initial investment of around $350,000 to acquire (building and property) and build/remodel to meet the NPM requirements. Then comes the long term challenge of raising around $200,000 a year to pay for a staff of four, operational supplies/equipment, utilities, insurance and advertising.
The NPM Committee is in the process of establishing the first Saturday of each month as a regular meeting time. A time and place will soon be announced. In order to meet this challenge we will need all of your help at meeting these initial milestones: completing a working set of NPM bylaws, finding a legal advisor, finding a grant writer, developing a market plan, drafting up a set of job descriptions for a Museum Director, Administrative Assistant, System (Computer) Administrator, Handyman (Carpenter) and to start collecting resumes for prospective Board of Directors.
Our work is cut out for us but someday our dream will come true and the museum will be a source of pride and education for the community and all Americans. Education and interaction will always be the means to building a better understanding and appreciation of our differences. We hope to work with the Stockton School District, the Stockton Public Library, other institutions of higher learning, community organizations, other museums and the general public. With regular business hours our NPM will open to walk in traffic and a heavy cyber-presence on the Internet through a NPM website......we have a dream.
THE NATIONAL PINOY MUSEUM AND CULTURAL CENTER STATUS REPORT from April 2001 Newsletter by Acting Chairperson Mel LaGasca
The March 24th-25th FANHS Board of Trustee meeting was a major step in the right direction:
1. We were given verbal authorization to start raising our own funding. We will need legal advice before we start.
2. We should receive a written statement from National FANHS indicating National's level of responsibility in the acquisition of real property and operations. This statement should arrive in Stockton around mid May, 2001.
3. Terri Jamero will act on behalf of National FANHS Executive Director, Dorothy Cordova on the National Pinoy Museum and Cultural Center's new board of directors.
4. We need to keep in contact with the "Little Manila" project in terns of requesting local and outside funding.
5. We must start to detail a game plan on our priorities:
a. Bylaws.
b. List of Board of Trustees.
c. Funding strategy for purchasing property and for keeping the museum open to the public.
d. Assign Museum Committee Members tasks, seek legal advisor, list of properties to target, contact the Smithsonian folks willing to advise us on museum artifacts and the list goes on.
We have a full plate with this museum project and it will take all of us to make it happen. I'll try to define specific action items we can realistically work on now. Richard has already started working on a set of bylaws for the museum. Thanks for all of your support on this challenging project.
NATIONAL PINOY MUSEUM UPDATE from January 2001 Newsletter by Deanna Balantac
The Stockton FANHS Museum committee has been meeting on a regular basis all year and at its November 18th, 2000, meeting the committee reviewed a "Checklist for Museum Planning" from the book Starting Right, A Basic Guide to Museum Planning by Gerald George and Cindy Sherrell-Leo. This book was recommended for the committee to purchase and review by Marilyn Guida, Education Coordinator, Haggin Museum, of Stockton.
The committee will be using the checklist to compare it to a business plan previously distributed to the Museum Committee members by Mel LaGasca, Acting Chair. The work of the committee is to develop a proposal for the museum to be presented at the next National Board of Trustees Meeting.
The Committee is also continuing to review possible locations and sites for the Museum with the preferred location of choice to be the downtown Stockton area. Any input from FANHS members is welcome and very much appreciated.
** This month (January) some of the committee members were able to tour the old Star Fish Market in downtown Stockton. This site seems to be a good choice for our museum, although the cost is to be estimated at $300,000 plus. We need the help of everyone in our quest to make the National Pinoy Museum a reality. That includes funding! ** [this update by Terri Torres]
FANHS DATELINE: Stockton, Calif. - April 1999 By Dr. Fred Cordova
The fund for establishing the Filipino American National Historical Museum has reached $3,600 - dollar-light years away from a standing structure - but to Filipino American National Historical Society planners theirs is no longer a dream but a budding reality in this inland port city once upon a time dubbed "Little Manila."
Plans for the historical museum to reflect contributions of Filipino Americans throughout the U.S. as early as the 16th century, was started in 1994 as a national project by the Filipino American National Historical Society under the patronage of its Stockton Chapter.
Stockton was selected because of its obvious role as the mother lode for family, community and labor in Filipino American history. The very idea of an historical museum was initiated in 1989 by members of the-then Filipino American Historical Institute (FAHI), since becoming FANHS' Stockton Chapter in 1992.
MUSEUM DONATIONS are coming from private sources. The first large donation came with $1,500 from the Executive Committee of the former Halua Ohan Mau Loa Hula Dance Group, once a Filipino Hawaiian troupe in Stockton.
Two thousand dollars ($2,000) were received from a bequest by the late Cecil Bonzo, one of FAHI's founders and museum originators who served as Stockton Chapter's first vice president. Bonzo died in office of cancer in May 1998.
A farmer and community activist, Bonzo had said, "Our long term goal is to have a museum. It's going to be an ongoing thing. I think it is important to our culture. On a personal basis, I would like my children to know the history of Filipino Americans. That's me, that's my parents."
Virginia Zambra Melear, chapter secretary-treasurer and homemaker who with Bonzo and Frank Acoba were among the original FAHI museum visionaries, said that a museum would help teach youngsters about their heritage.
"I WOULD like to take my grandchildren to our museum. Some of them have dark hair and dark eyes, some of them have green eyes and fair skin," said Melear. "They are like flowers in a garden. But I would like to be able to say, 'See your great-grandfather came here and he was etc., etc.' I don't want them to be like a lot of young people who wait until it's too late and then they have to explore someone else's history."
The search is now underway to find the best place to showcase various historical artifacts, writings and photographs - some of which are currently housed in boxes in homes and garages of various FANHS members, according to Frank Acoba, chapter president. The retired postmaster added that funding issues and locale criteria are also being formalized.
The earliest photo documentation of Filipinos in Stockton dates back to 1901 although Filipino American history begins in the U.S. in 1587.
"When the larger immigration began to come to the American mainland from Hawaii and the Philippines, much of the work available to them was stoop labor," said Dr. Dorothy Laigo Cordova, FANHS founder and executive director in Seattle. "So Stockton was the source of economic livelihood. Stockton was the hub of the Filipino American Experience."
A WORKING relationship has developed between the Stockton Chapter and The Haggin Museum of Stockton, instituting community-wide educational programs to research Filipino American history especially in San Joaquin County and the Delta.
The Stockton Chapter is FANHS' 12th out of 20 throughout the U.S. FANHS' national office is in Seattle, also housing the much-used National Pinoy Archives. An embryonic Filipino American national library is being coordinated in New York by the Metropolitan New York Chapter.