Early Filipinos on Mare Island
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The year was 1898 and the United States was at war with Spain. Halfway around the world, General Emilio Aguinaldo and his men were fighting for independence after over 300 years of Spanish rule. These two conflicts triggered the immigration of Filipinos and led to the emergence of the Filipino community in Vallejo, California through Mare Island Naval Shipyard. Mare Island became the gateway and economic engine that brought thousands of Filipinos to Vallejo after the turn of the last century.
The first contact between Mare Island and the Philippines occurred when Commodore George Dewey sailed into Manila Bay on May 1, 1898. From his flagship, the USS Olympia, he led the US Naval forces in defeating the Spanish Pacific fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Patricio Montojo. Now known as the Battle of Manila Bay, the US Naval forces very easily defeated the Spanish fleet with only one casualty on the American side. The ships that embarked on that long journey across the Pacific Ocean came from Mare Island before picking up the troops at the San Francisco Presidio. With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in December 1898, the Philippines came under US rule and Filipinos were then classified as American nationals. After the war, many of those ships, including the USS Olympia, returned to Mare Island to be repaired and retrofitted.
USS Olympia
Some of the first Filipinos came to Vallejo because of Mare Island and the role it played in the Spanish American War and subsequent Philippine American War. George Washington Carter Jr., was a Buffalo Soldier from Louisiana who was assigned in the Philippines. After the Philippine-American War, he met and married Maria Martinez in Cavite, where they started a pig farm. However, the crocodiles that inhabited the area at the time kept eating their pigs. As a result, George Washington Carter decided to return to America when he was offered a carpentry job at Mare Island. In 1912 he moved his wife and young daughter to Vallejo. His second daughter, Alice, was born in 1915, making her the first Pinay born in Vallejo.
Maria Martinez - arrived in Vallejo in 1912. She was married to George Washington Carter, Jr.
Consequently, some Naval officers returning to Mare Island after deployment in the Philippines brought back their Filipina nannies and servants. One such person was 19-year-old Candida Bautista. Candida was born in Naguilian, La Union. Candida was a nanny serving an officer who was reassigned to Mare Island. She lived in one of the beautiful mansions on Officers Row. Here, she met her future husband, Sergio Argonza, who worked at Mare Island along with hundreds of other Filipinos.
“As the oldest grandchild, I kinda had a special place in her heart. She called me number one. So every time she made dinuguan (and she knew it was my fav) no one could touch the pot. She always said Number One first. So for years, whether I was still living in the big house with her or otherwise, she would let me get my dish first or call me to bring my pot before serving others,” said Marian Argonza Hopwood, president of the Vallejo Chapter of the Filipino American National Historical Society.
At the time, Filipinos did not need a visa to immigrate or work in America, due to their classification as American nationals. By the 1920s, Filipinos, mostly men, were being hired for jobs on Mare Island. Most of them were laborers. Later on, they were able to get into a trade as carpenters, electricians and pipefitters. Compared with the low wages and seasonal work of their compatriots working in the fields or as domestics, Filipino workers on Mare Island were making a living wage. Not only were they making from 75 cents to $1.15 an hour, depending on their position, their employment was year-round, they had vacation leave, paid holidays, sick-leave, medical insurance and a pension. By 1942, there were as many as 1,500 Filipinos employed at Mare Island.
Nazario Orpilla and Nora Argonza both worked at Mare Island
Brothers - Nazario, Clemente and Modesto Orpilla began their careers at Mare Island in the early 1930's until retirement in the 1970's
One of those early workers was Ruperto Sampayan. Like most of the Filipinos, he was hard working, spoke English, and of small stature. Their size played an important role in the building of the many submarines and ships. “My father worked on the submarine, USS Pampanito. Because he was small, they would send him into parts of the submarine that other workers could not fit in. Sometimes they had to pull him out by his feet when he was done with his work. He was an electrician and worked there from 1937 to 1939,” said his son, Bob Sampayan, now the Mayor of Vallejo.
In 1942, WWII created major changes on Mare Island. Submarine- and ship-building was at an all-time high, and the workforce swelled to 50,000 employees of all ethnicities, working around the clock. Some of the manongs working there joined the US military, either the Army or the Navy. Those who joined the Army were part of the First & Second Filipino Infantry Battalions. Others, became stewards in the Navy. These Filipino servicemen were entitled to American citizenship and military benefits after their stint. Most returned to their jobs on Mare Island after the War.
Old Shipyard - was taken in 1932 of Shop 72 Filipino workers
When the War Brides Act was passed in 1946, the character of Vallejo’s Filipino community began to change, from a bachelor society to one filled with families. Many of the previously single Filipino men, who served in the US military, were now able to go back to the Philippines and bring home wives. The foundations of the Filipino community in Vallejo as we know it today were being laid. Organizations such as the Filipino Community of Solano County and the American Legion Post 603 were formed. The Filipino Methodist Church was founded and became the first church in Vallejo to cater to the growing Filipino community, when Filipinos weren’t initially welcomed into the Catholic churches. Also, Filipino fraternal organizations such as the Legionarios del Trabajo and the Caballeros de Dimas Alang began to flourish along with their women’s auxiliaries.
Post WWII gathering of families with Baby Boomer children
Today there are more than 25,000 Filipinos in Vallejo. Even though Mare Island was closed in 1996, during the last round of the Base Realignment and Closure process (BRAC), the island still holds warm memories for those who once worked there and their children. Instead of building submarines and ships, Mare Island has diversified its employment base with new businesses and even a medical school (Touro University). It has a thriving television and movie industry--the Netflix show “Thirteen Reasons Why” and the latest Transformers movie, “Bumblebee,” were shot in Mare Island sound stages. New neighborhoods have also sprouted with houses selling for just under a million dollars. Yet, the historic core of buildings and the officers’ mansions, where the first Filipinos once worked, are still standing as nostalgic reminders that Mare Island was a major gateway to the American dream.
Queen contest - Philippine Day at the Solano County Fair circa 1950, with many of the early Filipino families
On the first Saturday of every June, Vallejo’s annual Pista sa Nayon celebration is held at the Waterfront Park directly across the water from Mare Island. Most of the thousands of people attending the festival have no clue as to how important Mare Island was to the history of Filipinos in America and the Philippines. It is. undoubtedly the only celebration of Philippine Independence in the entire United States that is within sight of a place that had a direct relationship to the declaration of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898.
Pista sa Nayon with Mare Island in the background
Mare Island Museum
1100 Railroad Ave., Building 46
Vallejo, CA 94592
Mel Orpilla
Mel Orpilla is a native Vallejoan. His father worked at Mare Island from 1932 to 1974. Mel is the former National President of the Filipino American National Historical Society and the author of “Filipinos in Vallejo
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