Contact Us:
Little Manila Foundation
PO Box 1356
Stockton, CA 95201
Phone: (209) 477-7143
Email: email@littlemanila.net
Our Mission:
The Little Manila Foundation advocates for the historic preservation of the Little Manila Historic Site in Stockton, California and provides education and leadership to revitalize our Filipina/o American community.
Our Vision:
We are an organization that remembers, reclaims and rebuilds Filipina/o American community and heritage in Stockton.
We Remember...
- By preserving and sustaining our rich Filipina/o American legacy in Stockton
- By promoting local, state, national and international awareness of Little Manila's central role in Filipino American history
- By advocating for curriculum reform in the local schools which reflects Filipina/o American contributions to local history
We Reclaim...
- Our original, historic community in downtown Stockton
- Our Filipino American legacy, history, heritage and culture in Stockton
- The remaining two blocks of Little Manila south of the Crosstown Freeway
We Rebuild...
- By advocating for historic preservation of Little Manila's remaining buildings
- By bridging generations and communities through collaboration and cooperation with established community groups
- By advocating for sensitive redevelopment, including the FANHS Filipino American National Museum, a Filipina/o American cultural and youth center, and affordable housing at the Little Manila Historic Site
Our campaign to remember, reclaim and preserve Little Manila in Stockton coincides with ongoing efforts at Filipina/o American community development and preservation nationwide. In August of 2002, city leaders and community leaders in Los Angeles designated an area of downtown as Historic Filipinotown, and the Manilatown Heritage Foundation broke ground on their new International Hotel in the old Manilatown on Kearny Street in San Francisco.
The work of the Foundation is just beginning. Currently, we are fundraising for a major memorial plaque at intersection of Lafayette and El Dorado Streets. We will continue to resist the demolition of historic buildings and are hard at work to save the last remaining buildings of Little Manila. Recently, we received a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation to help save the Mariposa Hotel (130 E. Lafayette Street), the Rizal Social Club (138 E. Lafayette Street) and the Emerald Restaurant building (Hunter and Lafayette Streets). We will continue to create and participate in activities which empower our Filipina/o American community in Stockton.
History of the Little Manila Foundation
The Little Manila Foundation began as a project of the Stockton Chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS). In the spring of 1999, the chapter was preparing an exhibit on the Filipino American experience in Stockton at the Haggin Museum. Research on the Little Manila area featured in the exhibit raised greater awareness of the history and significance of the Little Manila neighborhood.
In April of 1999, Dawn B. Mabalon, a Ph.D. student in history at Stanford University and a FANHS Stockton chapter member who worked on the exhibit, learned of redevelopment project, the Gateway Project, which would tear down one of the last remaining blocks of Little Manila for a gas station and fast food restaurant. She contacted filmmaker and community organizer, Dillon Delvo, also a FANHS member, to begin work on saving and remembering Little Manila. Several residential hotels and businesses would be demolished in the Gateway Project. Distressed by the continued destruction of the physical remnants of the old Little Manila neighborhood, members of FANHS created a Little Manila Project committee that would work to obtain historic site designation for the Little Manila area around Lafayette and El Dorado Streets. Mabalon and Delvo began to film the struggle to save Little Manila for a future video documentary.
The efforts to remember and preserve Filipino American history downtown was given early support by Leslie Crow, chair of the city of Stockton's Cultural Heritage Board. Crow urged Mabalon and FANHS to submit a proposal to the City Council for Historic Site designation for the Little Manila area. In the spring of 2000, the proposal was submitted and sailed through the Redevelopment Commission and Planning Commission. Hundreds of signatures were collected in a petition campaign for support of the site designation, and more than 300 letters of support from all over the nation were submitted to the Council. More than 100 supporters gathered when the historic site designation was to be decided by the City Council. On October 17, 2000, in front of a packed City Council Chambers, the City Council voted unanimously to designate the four blocks around the intersection of Lafayette and El Dorado as the Little Manila Historic Site. It was a significant step towards reclaiming our original community.
Members of the Little Manila Project committee under the Filipino American National Historical Society decided to form a separate group, the Little Manila Foundation, which would work specifically towards the preservation and revitalization of the Little Manila Historic Site. Vice Mayor Gloria Nomura joined the Little Manila Project as co-chair with Dawn Mabalon after the City Council vote. Core members of this original group included members of FANHS and leaders of Filipino American community groups in San Joaquin County.
At the time, immediate plans for Little Manila included an educational campaign which could bring a sense of renewal and remembering to the larger Filipino American community. Overall, members hoped that last remaining block of Little Manila buildings would be responsibly redeveloped with historic, cultural and community sensitivity. The Foundation began to immediately design and fundraise for banners and historic markers. Funds are still being raised for a memorial plaque to be placed at the site to will recognize the vibrant community that once thrived in the area. However, the demolition of the Liberty Hotel in June 2001, a historic hotel within the Little Manila Historic Site, reminded members that the city would continue to neglect and disrespect Filipino American historic structures, so preservation efforts intensified.
In the spring of 2001, a rough planning committee and series of mini-retreats and community meetings created a working vision and mission for the group. In the summer of 2001, the Foundation began selling their signature T-shirts at the Barrio Fiesta. The T-shirts were designed by Reggie Romano. Since the first run of 100, more than a thousand Little Manila t-shirts have been sold. The Foundation hosted its first major fundraiser, Thrilla in Little Manila, a comedy show featuring Rex Navarrete and the Old Pinoys, on March 23, 2001 at Tillie Lewis Theatre at Delta College. In May 2001, the Little Manila Foundation received a $4,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation in a grant program that targeted Asian Pacific American historic site preservation efforts. In July 2001, the first Little Manila board was elected. Dawn B. Mabalon was elected chair, Dillon Delvo was elected vice chair, Elena Mangahas was elected secretary, Buster Villa was elected treasurer, and Ricardo Reyes, Florence Quilantang and Adeline Suguitan were elected board delegates. Leslie Crow agreed to become a board adviser/consultant. After the board was elected, Vice Mayor Nomura formally left the organization.
A strategic planning session and mini-retreat facilitated by Dr. Allyson Tintiangco-Cubales in August 2002 produced the mission, vision and goals of the Little Manila Foundation, and identified a plan for the banner designs and site markers for the historic site. Mark Malabuyo of San Francisco designed 11 Historic Site banners, which featured community leaders and aspects of life in Little Manila. On October 26, 2002, more than a thousand community members attended a day-long celebration, unveiling, and dedication of the Little Manila Historic Site. The dedication included a historical symposium at the Filipino Plaza Social Hall, a dedication ceremony and unveiling of markers and banners at the Little Manila Historic Site, and a community celebration at the Filipino Plaza. The threat of demolition of the historic Mariposa Hotel inspired the Little Manila leadership to continue pressure on the city to preserve the remaining buildings.
When strip mall plans threatened the remaining buildings of the Little Manila Historic Site in January 2003, the LMF and FANHS remained committed to preservation and revitalization of the Little Manila Historic Site. In March of 2003, a Memorandum of Understanding was reached between the Stockton Chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society and the Little Manila Foundation. The LMF would acquire, preserve, and rehabilitate one of the historic buildings specifically for the FANHS National Filipino American Museum. In May 2003, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named the Little Manila Historic Site to its annual list of America's Most Endangered Places.
Undeterred, less than a week after the announcement, the City Council voted to zone eight blocks of Gleason Park/Little Manila/Chinatown area as a Redevelopment Area and issued a Request for Proposals for master developers for the area. The RFP was issued in response to the strip mall proposal designed by Manny Fernandez and Bob Hong. The zoning galvanized the Filipino American community, and more than 100 supporters attended the City Council meeting and demanded that the Little Manila/Chinatown neighborhood be preserved, and that other development entities are given the opportunity to submit proposals to become master developers of the area. The City Council voted to extend the deadline for the proposals to October 3, 2003, and challenged the LMF to come up with its own proposal.
The summer of 2003 was a busy building time for the LMF. National TV and print media attention brought by the National Trust's Most Endangered listing brought some of the nation's best urban planning, ethnic community preservationists, and community development specialists to the Little Manila Foundation, all offering their services pro-bono. The struggle for Little Manila was featured in the Philippine News, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, Stockton Record, Filipinas Magazine, and in wire stories for the Associated Press. The History Channel featured Little Manila in their annual Save Our History show in July.
That summer, several new board members and board associates were brought onto the Little Manila board, including Oscar and Winnie Llamera, Tony Somera, Alma Riego, Debbie Reyes, Sylvia Oclaray, Jessica Hernandez, Rebecca Abellana, Sarah May Olarte, Chad Cordero, Mary Ann Medrano and Roxanne Fernandez. Dillon Delvo's 30-minute film on the history of Filipino Americans in Stockton and the Manong experience, The Game of Solitaire, premiered at the Emerald Restaurant in a Little Manila Foundation-sponsored benefit gala on July 12. On August 24, the LMF brought Rex Navarrete back to Stockton, along with comedian Oliver Saria and the Old Pinoys, to the Civic Auditorium for the sold-out Thrilla In Little Manila 2: The Rematch!
That summer of 2003, three community visioning forums facilitated by community leaders and urban planners brought the Little Manila/Chinatown/Gleason Park community into the planning process. Michelle Magalong, a Ph.D. student in urban planning at UCLA, April Veneracion, a planner with the National Community Development Institute, and Levin Sy, an independent consultant affiliated with the National Coalition of Asian Pacific Community Development, came on board to develop the forums. Michelle Magalong wrote the final community vision report for the neighborhood. Vince Reyes of Tri-West proved to be an invaluable adviser, and he brought the development entity Urban Innovations to the Little Manila Foundation.
In September 2003, Huell Howser featured the Little Manila Historic Site in his PBS program California's Gold. On September 19, 2003, a formal Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Urban Innovations/Tri-West and the Little Manila Foundation. The groups agreed to partner to propose to become the Master Developers of the Gleason Park Commercial Master Development Area. On September 30, the Little Manila Foundation brought hundreds of supporters to the City Council meeting to announce the Oct. 3 delivery of their redevelopment proposal for the Little Manila Historic Site.
Today, the Foundation is busier than ever. Please explore our home page and resources section for recent news on our continuing struggle.
