Filipinos in Hawaii: The First Hundred YearsSinggalot: The Ties That Bind - Filipinos in America, From Colonial Subjects to Citizens

December 4, 2006-January 31, 2007
Location: Bridge Gallery

Hamilton Library celebrates the centennial of Filipino immigration to Hawai´i with an exhibit of plantation photographs and documents, to accompany "Singgalot (Ties That Bind) - Filipinos in America, From Colonial Subjects to Citizens," an exhibit curated by a UHM professor and designed by a UHM student.

On December 20, 1906, fifteen men recruited in the Philippines by the Hawaii Sugar Planters´ Association arrived in Honolulu on the ship, SS Doric. The two exhibits currently on display are part of the centennial celebration of Filipino immigration to the United States.

The display in the cases titled, "Filipinos in Hawaii: The First Hundred Years," presents digitally photographed documents from the Hawaii Sugar Planters´ Association Plantation Archives held in the Hawaiian Collection. These documents provide snapshots of the life of the sakada during the period of 1906 to the 1930´s, when plantation labor immigration from the Philippines was at its peak.

Photos from Hawai´i Sugar Planters´ Association Plantation Archives

"Singgalot: The Ties That Bind""consists of thirty panels curated by Dean Alegado, professor and chairman of the Ethnic Studies Program, University of Hawaii at Manoa.. "Singgalot" presents a broad perspective on the history of Filipino migration, beginning with the Spanish Galleon Trade which brought the first Filipinos to the United States in the sixteenth century. The exhibit explores the challenges faced by Filipino-Americans and highlights their many contributions to American society. "Singgalot" is a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibit and is on a three-year national tour. For more about "Singgalot", read the May 16, 2006 article in the Honolulu Advertiser (http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2006/May/16/il/FP605160302.html.)

"Singgalot" opened at the Smithsonian Institute in May. Dr. Dean Alegado collected and documented hundreds of photographs for the project. The 4'x8' panels were designed by Marissa Rowell-Gacula, a 2006 UHM Graphic Design graduate.

The combined exhibits document Filipino migration to Hawai'i from 1906 to the present. The combined exhibit is coordinated by Alice Mak, Philippine Specialist Librarian, and hosted by the UH Manoa Libraries, with support from Student Equity, Excellence & Diversity (SEED), and the Center for Phillippine Studies.