Part 1 - The Early Years
Even though we are celebrating twenty five years of the incorporation of the Filipino Association of Greater Kansas City, organizations of Filipinos have existed as long as there had been Filipinos in the greater Kansas City area. A historical perspective of the Filipinos through the years will make us appreciate their valuable contributions that led to the efforts of others to our current status.
On December 30, 1917 at the Hotel Muehlbach in Kansas City, Missouri was the first known social gathering of Filipinos at a Rizal Day Banquet.
In 1922, two Filipino clubs were organized, "The Kansas Citian Filipino Club" and the "The Filipino Triangular Club".
By 1937, as listed in an invitation to a Philippine-American Banquet held at the Baltimore Hotel, there were four groups - The Filipino Triangular Club, Juan (John) Baysa, president; The Filipino Progressive Club, L. Almodovar, president; The Filipino Community Club with seven directors - Macario Abenoja, C. Desierto, G.M. Lucas, Frank Pascual, J. Sablay, L. Sarmiento and B. Valdez; and The Filipino Captains, U.S. Army, who were officers at the Staff College in Fort Leavenworth.
During World War II, early in 1940, ten Filipino Jesuit priests were evacuated from Rome to St. Mary's College in St. Mary's, Kansas. They had a historic photo with then Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel Quezon. The Jesuit Fathers also organized the Filipino-American Catholic Club in 1941, with a committee of five as the founding members: Alex Nagtalon, Sofronio Calica, Celestino Gomez and Juan Baysa.
By 1948, after World War II, the members of the only surviving club, The Triangular Club, reorganized and was absorbed by the "Bataan Post #584 of the American Legion". Their first commander was Sgt. Alex Nagtalon, a graduate of Michigan University. He subsequently moved to Arizona in 1950. After he left, Dr. Celestino Gomez loyally accepted the leadership of the Post and did so for 27 years.
The story of a people and its struggles for survival often gets lost unless someone is committed to the cause of the preservation of a heritage. Mr. Juan Baysa in his lifetime, was committed to this historical preservation. He is the source of most of the information of the early Filipinos in Kansas City as profiled above.
I first met Mr. John Baysa during my early years in Kansas City in the early 1960's. I remember him with a camera on hand and copies of the photos sent to us and others, with dates, names and places. Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of going over this accumulated memorabilia with his niece and sister-in-law - Grace and Anita Baysa who were kind enough to share this valuable collection with me -- "Filipinos in Kansas City - The Early Years ". These archives are reminders of the community spirit and the social instincts that bind us.
Part 2 - The "Brain Drain" of the '60s
In the United States postwar era, a building boom of the '50s and '60s occurred including new hospitals . Thus, a shortage of nurses and physicians occurred. This phenomenon brought many Filipino graduates and trainees in the medical field under the exchange visitors program. Despite the requirement to return to their country of origin after their training, many decided to stay, partly because of the shortage of medical personnel, but largely because of the economic opportunity.
The concentration of Filipinos in Kansas City during those years was the impetus to organize and incorporate the organization of Filipinos. Dr. Edilberto Lorenzo spearheaded the movement, and in 1968 with other founding board of directors, Dr. Manuel Pardo, Dr. Arnulfo Sulit, and Mr. William R. Ick, the Filipino Association of Greater Kansas City, Inc. was born.
Foremost of the Association's goals were: to promote and preserve the Filipino cultural heritage, to foster closer relationships and understanding between the Filipinos and others in the community, and to educate the community about our cultural heritage. By then, the Bataan Memorial Post was still active and many joint activities were held with the "new" Filipino Association.
1971 marked the birth of the Association newsletter, the Tambuli. Dr. Franklin B. Farrales, in March 1971, wrote an essay about the parable of the Tambuli, or why the newsletter should be called Tambuli -- it symbolized the call that brought people from everywhere together. To this date, Tambuli publishes the news and views of the Filipino Association. It was Dr. Arnulfo Sulit's first presidency. He also started the traditional annual "September Affair".
In 1972, Sinagtala, which means starlight was the name adopted by the dance troupe that was formed by the Association. Manny De Leon, a former Bayanihan dancer, became the dance director and choreographer. Star Magazine of the Kansas City Star featured Sinagtala in their cover story of November 26, 1972. Stars were born with that issue. The Tinikling was a full page color photo in the magazine - it was a very exciting time. Sinagtala's first public performance was for the Rizal Day celebration of the Bataan Memorial Post. Many performances and concerts later, and the first generation of Sinagtala performers was in full swing. They became feature entertainment in all four of Fiesta Filipina and Festival Asia at Crown Center Square, from 1977 to 1982. The first Fiesta Filipina co-chairs were Dr. Tony Racela and Dr. Rudy Fidelino. It was a smashing success, we had three more years of the Filipino Association alone, until Festival Asia was organized that included other Asian countries.
In 1978, the culmination of years of fund-raising activities of the Association allowed us to acquire property in Overland Park which we called the Philippine House. The vision and the dream is to build a Filipino Cultural Center.
In 1988, fire struck the Philippine House, alleged to be arson. The dastardly act left our dreams up in smoke. But we rebuilt, and rekindled our hope for a bigger and better Filipino Cultural Center. The proposed uses and activities for this Center will be an exhibit area for arts and artifacts, a rehearsal studio for the Sinagtala, Filipiniana library, education facility for language studies, cooking and other cultural activities and most of all, a meeting place for the Filipino-American community.
The dream lives because hope never dies.
Part 3 - The Second Generation Hyphenated Americans - Quo Vadis ?
The first Sampaguita Debutantes Ball of 1982 was the formal social milestone that marked the introduction of the second generation Filipino Americans to Kansas City society. The debutantes and their escorts were children who were mostly born here in the United States of Filipino parents. Co-chairs of the event, Dr. Mila Tiojanco and Mrs. Shirley Sulit left no stone unturned to make that event truly a cultural happening. The youth of the Association were proud to be part of it and proud indeed of the cultural heritage that the event symbolized.
A decade later, the second Sampaguita Debutantes Ball was held, chaired by Dr. Andrietta Enriquez. The second group of debutantes and their escorts organized themselves after the ball and formed the Filipino Youth Group. In both instances, the participants of the ball were active Sinagtala dancers, recognized scholars and active in school and in their communities. To instill in this youth the pride of the Filipino cultural heritage takes twists and turns. It does not happen in an instant, it happens with patience and time. It happens only with a self-realization and awakening that they are different but wanting in their desire to be the same as their friends and classmates. Soon, they appreciate the traditions and value systems that Filipino families uphold - educational attainment, dignity of labor and filial respect.
Twenty five years from now, they will be the community leaders who will set the direction of this Association. What remains to be seen is in what shape, form or texture it will be. A five-year goal is to have the Filipino Cultural Center building, as architecturally conceived by our in-house architect and generic art consultant, Jun Puno, an unsung hero of this Association. He wants to see the fruits of his long labor too.
But for the moment, there is much to celebrate. There is much to celebrate in the leadership of this Association who brought us up to this level of accomplishments. There is much to celebrate in our youth, as we encourage them to assure the perpetuity of the legacy - to take pride, to promote and preserve our cultural heritage. We must all heed the call to be together for we share a common bond that must grow stronger with every passing year.
About the author:
Lillian Gonzalez-Pardo, M.D. is currently a Clinical Professor in Pediatrics
and Neurology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, in Kansas City,
Kansas. She was also recently named Medical Director of Teva Marion Partners,
a pharmaceutical company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr.Pardo has lived
in Kansas City for the past 33 years and is active in the Filipino
Association of Greater Kansas City and the Filipino Cultural
Foundation, where she is on an active board member . She is spearheading
the capital fund campaign to build a Filipino Cultural Center building in
Kansas City.
