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Dawn Mabalon

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Dawn Bohulano Mabalon
Woman in front of a cathedral
Mabalon in Paris, November 2015
Born(1972-08-17)August 17, 1972
Stockton, California
DiedAugust 10, 2018(2018-08-10) (aged 45)
Kauai, Hawaii
Occupation(s)Professor, historian
SpouseJesus Perez Gonzales[1]
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Stanford University
Academic work
DisciplineAmerican History[1]
Sub-disciplineAsian American Studies[1]

Dawn Bohulano Mabalon (August 17, 1972 – August 10, 2018) was an American academic who worked on documenting the history of Filipino Americans. Mabalon was born in Stockton, and earned her doctoral degree from Stanford University; she later taught at San Francisco State University.[1] Mabalon was the co-founder of The Little Manila Foundation, which worked to preserve Little Manila in Stockton, California.[2] During her life, her work elevated the topic of the history of Filipino Americans, in Central California in particular.[3]

Early life and education

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Mabalon was born on August 17, 1972, in Stockton, California, to Filipinos who had immigrated to the United States from the Philippines;[2] her father was a guerrilla during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.[4] Mabalon's grandfather, Pablo "Ambo" Mabalon, ran the Lafayette Lunch Counter,[5] an important hub in the community and one of the longest surviving Filipino American businesses in Little Manila.[6] Many Filipinos frequented the restaurant, including Carlos Bulosan.[7][8] It remained in business until 1983, and the building it had occupied was torn down in 1999.[6][8][9][10] Mabalon's maternal grandmother, Concepcion Moreno Bohulano, was the first school teacher of Filipina descent in the United States.[9][11] Mabalon was also the niece of Fred and Dorothy Cordova;[12] who were involved in the founding of the Filipino American National Historical Society.[13]

During high school, Mabalon was involved in extracurricular activities, including leading her high school's Asian Club, student council, and editor of Hi-Lite.[1] In 1991, Malabon was involved in a January issue of Sassy, being described as a "editor-in-chief".[14] Graduating from Edison High School, her post-secondary education involved attending San Joaquin Delta College, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and earning her doctorate at Stanford University.[4] Mabalon's master's thesis was titled "Filipina Pioneers: The Pinay in Stockton, California, 1929–1946", and was written at UCLA in 1997.[15] Mabalon's doctoral dissertation was titled Life in Little Manila Filipinas/os in Stockton, California, 1917–1972, and published in 2003.[16]

During her time at UCLA, Mabalon was active in the Filipino community on campus. She endorsed the effort to keep Tagalog as an available language taught at the university.[17]

Career

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In 1999, Mabalon and Dillon Delvo co-founded The Little Manila Foundation in order to preserve what remained of the Little Manila neighborhood of Stockton, California.[9]

In 2004, Mabalon became a faculty member at San Francisco State University;[1][4] she was an associate professor of history.[11][18] She focused her work on the history of Filipino Americans, Filipinos in Stockton, and Filipinos role in the 20th-century labor movement.[4] In particular, she highlighted the often overlooked efforts of Filipino Americans in the 20th-century farm labor movement, which has been seen as primarily a Mexican American movement led by Cesar Chavez.[19] Mabalon was also on the board of trustees of the Filipino American National Historical Society.[9]

In 2010, photographs taken by Mabalon were published on SFGate about a Filipino American band Skyflakes.[20] In 2015, Mabalon was interviewed about the November 2015 Paris attacks by Voice of America, as she and her husband were visiting the area at the time.[21] In 2017, Mabalon, along with Gayle Romasanta, wrote a children's book about Larry Itliong called Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong; the book was published a year later.[22] In 2018, Mabalon visited the Delano campus of Bakersfield College, which is in the area where the Delano grape strike began, for an event about archiving; at the event she spoke to encourage Filipino Americans to preserve their family histories, with the goal of expanding historical narratives.[23]

Honors and awards

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In 2013, the Filipino Women's Network listed her among their "100 Most Influential Filipinas in the World".[11] In 2014, she received an honorable mention for the Frederick Jackson Turner Award for her book Little Manila Is in the Heart;[9] that same year Mabalon was profiled in the book Remarkable Women of Stockton.[24]

Death

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In August 2018, Mabalon died while snorkeling off of Kauai.[4] She had been vacationing with her family prior to her death.[25] Mabalon had an asthma attack when she was out with her sister, and her inhaler did not alleviate her symptoms.[26] She was brought out of the water and 9-1-1 was called.[26] Paramedics attempted CPR and then transported her to an emergency room.[26] She died at the hospital.[27] Mabalon was buried at San Joaquin Catholic Cemetery.[28] Mabalon was survived by her husband of ten years, Jesus Perez Gonzalez.[1] In early October, Mabalon was memorialized at San Francisco State University.[3][29]

Legacy

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Mabalon's work of documenting the history of Filipino Americans continued at the Little Manila Center that she had co-founded even after her death .[30] Mabalon authored three books and was working on a fourth.[3] Her works elevated the status of Little Manila in Stockton and helped lead to Little Manila being listed as one of America's Most Endangered Places.[3][31] The San Francisco Chronicle described Mabalon as "a major figure to California's Filipino Americans".[3] Larry the Musical, the 2024 musical about Larry Itliong, pays tribute to Mabalon’s work and research on the Filipino farmworkers.

Bibliography

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  • Dawn B. Mabalon, Ph.D.; Rico Reyes; Filipino American National Historical So (2008). Filipinos in Stockton. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-5624-6.
  • Dawn Bohulano Mabalon (May 29, 2013). Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-9574-4.
  • Dawn Bohulano Mabalon; Gayle Romasanta (October 2018). Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong. Bridge & Delta Publishing. ISBN 978-1-73219-932-3.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "The Passing of Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon". Department of History. San Francisco State University. August 10, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2019. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Khokha, Sasha (August 17, 2018). "Leaving a Legacy: Dawn Bohulano Mabalon, Filipino-American Champion and Historian". The California Report. San Francisco: KQED. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e Nolte, Carl (September 22, 2018). "Mourning Filipino Americans' fervent scholar". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e Guillermo, Emil (August 14, 2018). "Fil-Am historian, activist Dawn Mabalon, 46, dies during Hawaii vacation". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  5. ^ Carpizo, Almendra (June 14, 2017). "Little Manila being brought back to life". The Record. Stockton, California. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  6. ^ a b Robert Ji-Song Ku; Martin F. Manalansan; Anita Mannur (September 23, 2013). Eating Asian America: A Food Studies Reader. NYU Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-4798-1203-5.
  7. ^ Dawn Bohulano Mabalon (May 29, 2013). Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California. Duke University Press. pp. 1–2. ISBN 978-0-8223-9574-4.
    Huping Ling; Allan W. Austin (March 17, 2015). Asian American History and Culture: An Encyclopedia: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. p. 1056. ISBN 978-1-317-47644-3.
  8. ^ a b Antonio T. Tiongson; Edgardo V. Gutierrez; Ricardo Valencia Gutierrez; Ricardo V. Gutierrez (2006). Positively No Filipinos Allowed: Building Communities and Discourse. Temple University Press. pp. 87–88. ISBN 978-1-59213-123-5.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Fil-Am community mourns the death of historian and author, Dawn Mabalon". Asian Journal. August 14, 2018. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  10. ^ Perez, Frank Ramos; Perez, Leatrice (Winter 1994). "Filipinos in San Joaquin County" (PDF). The San Joaquin Historian. VIII (4): 3–18. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 24, 2015. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  11. ^ a b c Filipas, Nicholas (August 11, 2018). "Filipinos celebrate Barrio Fiesta with heavy hearts". The Record. Stockton, California. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  12. ^ Jimenez, Mariel Toni (August 22, 2018). "Dawn Bohulano Mabalon's Short Life Burned Brightly". Positively Filipino. Burlingame, California. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  13. ^ "Fred and Dorothy Cordova". Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project. University of Washington. 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
    Ang, Walter (October 26, 2017). "Some books on Filipino American history". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  14. ^ Eskin, Leah (December 25, 1991). "Who's The Boss". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  15. ^ Mabalon, Dawn (1997). "SRLF / LD 791.8 A75 M113". Filipina Pioneers: The Pinay in Stockton, California, 1929–1946 (Masters). University of California, Los Angeles.
    "Digital Indexing Projects". Asian American Studies Center. University of California, Los Angeles. October 3, 2018. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  16. ^ Dawn Bohulano Mabalon; Stanford University. Dept. of History (2003). Life in Little Manila Filipinas/os in Stockton, California, 1917–1972. Stanford University.
  17. ^ Lefkowitz, Allison (October 20, 1994). "Students fight for continuation of Tagalog". Daily Bruin. University of California, Los Angeles. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  18. ^ Mashinchi, Ken (August 12, 2018). "Stockton's Filipino Community Honors Late Professor and Author". KTXL. Stockton. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  19. ^ Brown, Patricia Leigh (October 18, 2012). "Forgotten Hero of Labor Fight; His Son's Lonely Quest". The New York Times. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
    Guillermo, Emil (September 8, 2015). "Eclipsed by Cesar Chavez, Larry Itliong's Story Now Emerges". NBC News. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
    Magagnini, Stephen (October 10, 2013). "Q&A: California history shaped by Stockton's Little Manila". Sacramento Bee. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
    Yurong, Dale (October 21, 2015). "Filipino labor leader honored". KFSN. Fresno. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
    "Tour for book celebrating Larry Itliong kicks off in Delano this weekend". The Bakersfield Californian. February 5, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
    Mayor, Gayle Gupit (March 22, 2019). "Bringing awareness to a forgotten Filipino leader". Northwest Asian Weekly. Seattle. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
    Choy, Catherine Ceniza (September 8, 2018). "Remembering the Filipino American origins of the Delano grape strike". Berkeley Blog. University of California, Berkeley. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  20. ^ Broder Van Dyke, Michelle (May 20, 2010). "The Skyflakes: Filipino American quintet". SFGate. San Francisco. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  21. ^ Bryant, Lisa (November 15, 2018). "Paris Tourists Saddened but Defiant in Wake of Attacks". Voice of America. Retrieved October 19, 2018.
  22. ^ Mejia, Paula (May 17, 2018). "The Forgotten Filipino American Activist Behind the Delano Grape Strike". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
    Correa, Carlos (November 14, 2017). "Who Is Larry Itliong? Publisher Hopes To Shine Light On Filipinos' Role In California History". KOVR. Sacramento. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
    Galila, Wilfred (November 16, 2017). "Children's book on Fil-Am labor hero Larry Itliong is in the works". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 26, 2018.
  23. ^ Garcia, Olivia (April 29, 2018). "Filipina American historian to visit Delano, discuss importance of preserving family histories". Delano Record. Delano, California. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  24. ^ Mary Jo Gohlke (March 4, 2014). "Dr. Dawn Mabalon". Remarkable Women of Stockton. Arcadia Publishing Incorporated. p. 98. ISBN 978-1-62584-947-2.
  25. ^ Diokna, Ed (August 12, 2018). "Noted FilAm historian Dawn Mabalon passes away". AsAmNews. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  26. ^ a b c Guillermo, Emil (August 17, 2018). "Sister describes Fil-Am historian's last moments in Kauai". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved October 9, 2018.
  27. ^ Phillips, Roger (August 14, 2018). "Family, friends still trying to make sense of Dawn Bohulano Mabalon's death". The Record. Stockton, California. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  28. ^ Phillips, Roger (August 16, 2018). "Filipina leader Mabalon to be remembered next week". The Record. Stockton, California. Retrieved October 10, 2018.
    Jamero, Peter (September 29, 2018). "Peter's Pinoy Patter - October 2018". Retrieved October 10, 2018.
  29. ^ Mejia, Valeria (October 10, 2018). "Community praises the life of Dawn Mabalon". Golden Gate Express. San Francisco State University. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  30. ^ Rao, Sameer (October 16, 2018). "New Podcast Shares Uniquely Filipino-American Stories". ColorLines. race forward. Retrieved October 22, 2018.
  31. ^ Glionna, John M. (May 31, 2003). "Saving a Harsh Picture of the Past". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 10, 2018.[dead link]
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