Filipinos in Greater Boston Project

Mock up of our book cover:    Sample Book Covers for "Filipinos in..." Series (see Arcadia Press:  link )

 Sample photos: (Please note that all photos and text are Copyright © 2021 by Mary Talusan Lacanlale) I. Earliest photos-- Immigrant generation Ildefonso Torres Lauron came to Boston in 1964 to attend the New England Conservatory of Music. (Courtesy of the Lauron family.) II. Early Family photos-- Immigrants with children Family celebrating Christmas in Roslindale, MA, ca. 1977. Arcel and Ed brought the two older children to the US while they were medical residents at Tufts University. Their youngest child in this photos was the first to be born in the US. (Courtesy of Talusan Family.) III. Forming friendships with other Filipino immigrants-- Filipino immigrants in Boston relax while playing a favorite game--mahjong. (Courtesy of Talusan Family.) IV. Filipino families at New England landmarks-- Filipino family visits Harvard University, ca. 1976. (Courtesy of Talusan Family.) V. Filipino American children participating in town events, school, civic organizations, sports, parades, g...

Since launching the project, we've contacted and spoken with many members of our community, requesting photographs of important events in Boston Filipinos history.  We've asked that if you would like to be included in our upcoming book, please  1) jot down an outline of your family's history. Note that for this portion of the project, we are particularly interested in the generation that arrived post-1965 until the 1986 People's Power Revolution. We will treat the succeeding generation of post-1986 in another work. 1. Who in your family was the first to immigrate to the Boston area? When? 2. What was you/your family's reason for moving here? 3. From where in the Philippines (or other place) did you/your family emigrate? 4. Did you attend school here? If so, where and when? 5. Where/when did you meet your spouse? 6. When/where did you settle? 7. Where did/do you work? 8. What do you consider the most important events in our community during the time period between ...

For many years, decades now actually, several members of our community have expressed the need for a written history of Filipinos and Filipino Americans in Massachusetts. No one can forget the importance of this community before and during the People's Power Revolution, and meeting, and for some, spending time with, the Aquinos. I was recently asked by a Filipino American woman from New Jersey, "Where are all the Filipinos around here?" Even though we are spread out all over the state and all over New England, Filipino Americans do have a presence here, and it is our project to write a history of "Boston" Filipinos. Though most of us live in the greater Boston area, Boston has often served as a meeting place for organizations (groups of medical professionals), a place where many of us went to college and met Filipinos from outside of Massachusetts, and a place where many of us work. We ask participation from as many people as possible, and will over the next y...