TO celebrate the 100th anniversary of Filipinos in King County, the Wing Luke Asian Museum in collaboration with the Filipino American National Historical Society is featuring the exhibit “Voyage of the Barangay.” The exhibit opened October 5 and will continue through December 10.The word “barangay” derives from the Malay word “balangay,” which in Tagalog refers to community.
The exhibit’s goal is to be a tribute to the “many Pinoy pioneers who journeyed and settled in this area, overcoming the obstacles of alienation, assimilation and acculturation and building their community into a strong hold and haven for other Filipinos who shared the same aspirations,” according to organizers.

The exhibit reflects the camaraderie, compassion, hard work and struggles of Filipinos immigrating to the Northwest. The stories are depicted through artifacts and photos of early Filipino migrants such as Carlos Bulosan, a well-known author, and Chris Mensalves, president of the ILWU’s Local 37-Filipino Alaskeros Cannery Workers Union.
During the early 1920’s and ‘30s, about 4,000 immigrants from the Philippines worked in canneries in Alaska. They were also known as Alaskeros. The U.S. relied on them as cheap imported labor. This was due to federal laws limiting Chinese and Japanese immigration. According to the exhibit, “Filipinos became a major labor force in agriculture and fishing and Seattle was a place many of them flocked to in order to find work and housing.”

The exhibit also features the Eastern Hotel. Located in the International District between King and Weller streets, it housed most of the Filipinos working as fishermen in Alaska or in the canneries to make better lives for themselves.

The Eastern Hotel housed many workers until 1970, when the Ozark Ordinance shut it down along with many other hotels and businesses in the International District. But in 1996 Inter*Im bought the building and its renovation was completed in Oct. 1998 by the ICDA, Kovalenko Hale Architects and Marpac Construction in cooperation with the Wa Sang Associates (Chinn Family) and Lola Lee. By reopening this historic hotel, the stories within its walls of families, friends and workers are told. This is portrayed in the exhibit through artwork, poems, old photographs and historical artifacts.

Today the Eastern Hotel stands again and in 2000 an exhibit was designed to honor Carlos Bulosan. It now resides in the hotel’s lobby.

“Voyage of the Barangay” continues through December 10 at the Wing Luke Asian Art Museum, 407 Seventh Ave. S., Seattle. For hours and admission prices call (206)-623-5124.•

Allison Espiritu is a student of the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.