Twenty-nine Filipinas traveled fifty-three hundred miles to Hawai'i in 1907 pursuing better lives. Thousands of Filipinas followed. These daring women created major life changes, but their stories were seldom heard.
FILIPINAS! Voices from Daughters and Descendants of Hawaii's Plantation Era
seeks to change that. Sixty-seven storytellers and collaborators share details about their early immigrant ancestors and themselves shedding light on culture, spiritual beliefs, and roles Filipinas continue to play in Hawaii's history.
Filipinas are prudent and rarely share their personal and family stories of struggle and perseverance. As their generations decline, they recognize their history will be lost forever. Therefore, they chose to honor plantation-era Filipinas by sharing and preserving their stories publically and offering them as reliable truths and learning tools.
"This path-breaking book by Dr. Patricia Brown deals with the fascinating lives and times of the first Filipinas in Hawai'i in the early decades of the twentieth-century," says Dr. Belinda Aquino, professor emeritus of Asian studies at the University of Hawai'i, Manoa, and founding director of its Center for Philippine Studies. "It is a landmark addition to the relatively scant history of Filipinas and Filipina-Americans in the islands and will certainly enrich the existing literature on this particular topic."