Manilatown, San Francisco

"[5] They were the first generation of Filipinos to emigrate to the United States, en masse, and form local communities, beginning in the 1900s.

Typically, manong were recruited from the Philippines to perform low-wage agricultural work in California, Hawaii, and Alaska.

By the 1930s, approximately 30,000 manong worked in farms and canneries in Salinas, Watsonville, Modesto, Delano, and other parts of California.

For example, New Luneta Cafe, which was located on Kearny Street, served Filipino cuisine like chicken adobo, pancit, and rice.

Canuto, Clem and Mike were part of a handful of Filipinos who owned and operated a business in San Francisco at that time.

[10] Some businesses, like Lucky M. Pool Hall (managed by Manuel Muyco and his wife, Margaret) and Tino's Barber Shop (owned by Faustino "Tino" Regino), served as community centers and employment centers, and they often posted job listings on their walls.

The plan aimed to remove many low-income tenants and historic buildings, replacing them with modern skyscrapers and affluent residents.

[12] However, the tenants rights activism that came out of their evictions helped rent control laws be established in San Francisco in 1979.

In 2004, a two-block corridor of Kearny Street was named "Manilatown," following a proposal from San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin.

[13] In 2005, the former International Hotel building became a senior housing facility, and it became the home to the Manilatown Heritage Foundation,[1] which advocates for social and economic justice for Filipinos in the United States.

[14] The executive director of the center, Evelyn Luluquisen, told the San Francisco Examiner, "This building is a symbol of the perseverance and commitment of the anti-eviction movements in Manilatown.

"[1] In October 2013, the center turned down an award from then-mayor Ed Lee in celebration of Filipino American History Month.