OUR HISTORY IN GREATER CHICAGO

Filipinos have lived in Chicago for more than a century. The first arrivals to Chicago were male college students. Many of them came from wealthy families which encouraged their sons to study abroad.  

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Among the Filipinos who were earning a living, a notable group were the postal employees who worked at Canal and Van Buren. They were among the first organizers of Filipino social clubs in Chicago. Filipinos are known for eagerly forming organizations. In a city the size of Chicago it's not unusual to find hundreds of Filipino American organizations with members belonging to several groups.

FACC ARCHIVE PHOTOS: Top - Crane Jr. College Filipino Student Club 1928;  Filipino Postal Club Tennis Players 1939. Photos collection of Maria Acierto. 

OUR COMMUNITY TODAY

There are more than 86,000 Filipino American living in the greater Chicago area today. They are part of a vibrant community which boasts of hundreds of Filipino American owned businesses and a network of media organizations including seven newspapers, three television shows and two radio programs.

Chicago's Filipino Americans have made their mark into nearly every sector of mainstream society including local politics. A former mayor of the neighboring town of Glendale Heights was a Filipino American.

FACC ARCHIVES: With Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley at the International Trade Fair at Navy Pier 1964; FACC President Eduardo Fernandez with Chicago Mayor Harold Washington at Rizal Day celebration. 1986. Photos collection of Maria Acierto.

Book Description
The pictorial history of Filipino immigration to Chicago encompasses 100 years, moving from the Philippines to this country of unknown landscapes and uncertainties. The pioneering Filipinos came in the early 1900s to seek the land of milk and honey. They were mostly pensionadosó government-supported studentsóand self-supported students who settled in the Garfield Park, Hyde Park, and Near North Side neighborhoods of Chicago. From the close of World War II to the present day, the Filipino American population became the largest urban group of Asians in Chicago Through the medium of historic photographs, this book captures the evolution of the Filipino community of Chicago from the early 1900s to the present day. These pages bring to life the people, events, and industries that helped to shape and transform the Filipino community of Chicago. With more than 200 vintage images, Filipinos in Chicago includes many photographs from personal albums of Filipino American families. This book depicts the many faces of the Filipino American in various facets of American life interwoven with Philippine traditions from the homeland. 

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