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Larry Itliong
Born(1913-10-25)October 25, 1913
San Nicolas, Pangasinan, Philippine Islands
DiedFebruary 1977(1977-02-00) (aged 63)[a]
Delano, California, U.S.
Other namesSeven Fingers
Occupation(s)Labor organizer, farmworker

Modesto "Larry" Dulay Itliong (October 25, 1913 – February 1977[a]), also known as "Seven Fingers",[3] was a Filipino-American labor organizer. He organized West Coast agricultural workers starting in the 1930s, and rose to national prominence in 1965, when he, Philip Vera Cruz, Benjamin Gines and Pete Velasco, walked off the farms of area table-grape growers, demanding wages equal to the federal minimum wage, that became known as the Delano grape strike.[4][5][6] He has been described as "one of the fathers of the West Coast labor movement."[7] He is regarded as a key figure of the Asian American movement.

Biography

Itliong was a native of San Nicolas, Pangasinan, Philippines (then a territory of the United States).[2][8] One of six children of Artemio and Francesca Itliong, he only had a sixth grade education.[2] He immigrated to the United States in 1929 and joined his first strike in 1930;[9] Itliong was only 15 when he came to the United States.[10] Itliong was an excellent card player, and avid cigar smoker, who spoke multiple Filipino languages, Spanish, Cantonese, Japanese, and taught himself about law.[3] Itliong married six times,[3] had seven children,[11] and raised his family in the Delano area [2] and in the Little Manila community of Stockton, California.[12]

As a farmworker, Itliong worked in Alaska; where he organized cannery and agricultural unions, Washington, and up and down California;[3] he also worked in Montana and South Dakota.[2] While living in Alaska, he helped found the Alaska Cannery Workers Union (which later became Local 7 of the United Cannery and Packing and Allied Workers Union, then Local 7 of the International Longshoreman's and Warehouse Workers Union). He lost three fingers in an accident in an Alaskan cannery, which earned him the nickname, "Seven Fingers."[12]

Some of the labor organizers whom Itliong met in his early days had ties to the Communist Party.[13] Filipinos in California led the way in unionization efforts among farmworkers in the 1930s and 40s.[14] During World War II, Itliong served on a U.S. Army transport ship as a messman.[12] After the war, he settled in the city of Stockton in California's Central Valley.[12] In 1948, Itliong (along with Rudy Delvo, Chris Mensalvas, Philip Vera Cruz, and Ernesto Mangaoang) became involved in the 1948 asparagus strike,[15] which was the first major agriculture strike after World War II.[16] Itliong served as the first shop steward of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 37,[2] in Seattle,[17] and was elected its vice-president in 1953.[2] He served as secretary of the Filipino Community of Stockton from 1954 to 1956.[12] In 1956, Itliong founded the Filipino Farm Labor Union[1] in Stockton.[12] In 1957, he was elected president of the Filipino Voters League in Stockton.[12] By 1965, Itliong was leading the AFL–CIO union Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee;[18] the majority of members of the committee were Filipinos who had in the 1930s arrived in the United States.[19]

A vote was held on May 3, 1965 in which the committee voted to strike against Coachella Valley grape growers. Although the strikers weren't able to negotiate a contract with the growers, they did succeed in winning higher wages.[18] Following the success in Southern California, on September 8, 1965 the Agriculture Workers Organizing Committee voted to strike against grape growers in Delano, California, where the grape season starts in September.[18] This strike became the first time Mexican workers, due to the decision of Cesar Chavez, did not break a strike of Filipinos;[3] later, on September 16, 1965, Chavez's National Farm Workers Association joined the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee on the picket lines.[20] These strikes occurred around the same time when younger Filipino Americans began a period of political self-reflection and awakening.[21]

The Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee and National Farm Workers Association merged to form the United Farm Workers;[22] Itliong was skeptical of the merger, as he believed that Mexicans would become dominant over the Filipinos when the organizations merged, and that improving work conditions would come at the expense of Filipino farmworkers, but Itliong kept those feelings to himself at the time.[23] In 1966, the California Rural Legal Assistance was founded as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's War on Poverty,[24] with Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Itliong sitting on the founding board.[25] Itliong served as assistant director of the United Farm Workers under Cesar Chavez,[26] and in 1970 he was appointed the United Farm Workers' national boycott coordinator.[27] In 1971, Itliong resigned from the United Farm Workers because of disagreements about the governance of the union;[26] another reason for resigning from the United Farm Workers, was that Itliong felt that the union was not willing to support aging Filipinos.[28][29] Alex Fabros, a doctoral candidate at University of California, Santa Barbara, called the merger "devastating for the Filipinos who participated in the UFW.".[22]

After leaving the United Farm Workers, Itliong assisted retired Filipino farmworkers in Delano, and was a delegate at the 1972 Democratic National Convention.[1] Together with Vera Cruz, Itliong worked towards building a retirement facility for UFW workers, known as Agbayani Village.[28][30] Although no longer in the United Farm Workers, Itliong continued to support others in the organized labor movement, such as helping others plan a strike against Safeway supermarkets in 1974.[31] Itliong also served as President of the Filipino American Political Association,[1] a bipartisan lobbying organization.[28] He died in Delano in February 1977,[a] aged 63, from Lou Gehrig's disease.[1][9]

Legacy

Most history books mention Chavez and the United Farm Workers, but do not include a mention of Itliong or other Filipinos.[32][33] Speaking about Chavez and his father, Johnny Itliong said, "Larry was militant. Cesar was non-violent. Cesar had handlers. Cesar had lawyers. Cesar was a dictator."[32]

The first public art memorial honoring Filipino American farmworkers was unveiled on June 24, 1995 in LA's Historic Filipinotown with Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz as its most prominent historical figures.[34] Itliong was posthumously honored in 2010 by inclusion in a mural at California State University, Dominguez Hills.[35]

In 2011, Los Angeles County recognized Itliong with Larry Itliong Day on October 25;[32] this follows the City of Carson which became the first city in the United States to recognize Larry Itliong Day in the United States in 2010.[36] In 2015 Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill to establish Larry Itliong Day in the State of California.[37] It was proclaimed in 2019 by Governor Gavin Newsom.[38]

In mid-April 2013, the New Haven Unified School District renamed Alvarado Middle School as the Itliong-Vera Cruz Middle School in honor of Vera Cruz and Larry Itliong; this school is the first school in the United States to be named for Filipino Americans.[39] There was a vocal opposition to the name change, some of whom waved Mexican flags, who said that the name changing disrupts the neighborhood's tradition.[40] The middle school was originally named for Juan Bautista Alvarado, and the name change did not take effect until 2015.[41] This occurred after a 13-year effort to rename a school for the Filipino American leaders, after several other schools had been named to reflect the city's diverse population, including Cesar Chavez Middle School, where 20% of the population is Filipino American.[42]

In late April 2013, a Filipino business and a Filipino Community Center were targeted with graffiti vandalism; the graffiti was investigated as a hate crime.[43]

In 2014, an overpass over the Filipino American Highway in south San Diego was designated as the "Itliong-Vera Cruz Memorial Bridge".[44]

A documentary titled The Delano Manongs: Forgotten Heroes of the UFW was made to highlight the role of Filipinos in the farm labor movement, including Itliong;[45] the documentary was released in 2013. Itliong was portrayed by Darion Basco in the 2014 film about Cesar Chavez; the film will not include other Filipino American farm labor leaders such as Vera Cruz.[10][46]

In 2018, a children's book was published which highlighted Itliong's life and his role in the agriculture labor movement.[47]

The Filipino Hall in Delano, California houses a collection of memorabilia.[48] The Larry Itliong Papers are housed at the Walter Reuther Library at Wayne State University in Detroit.[49]

A musical[50] is under development based on Itliong's life, with original compositions by Bryan Pangilinan.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Sources disagree as to whether Itliong died on February 8[1] or 10,[2] 1977.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Hamilton, Neil A. (2002). American Social Leaders and Activists. American biographies. Infobase Publishing. p. 213. ISBN 978-1-4381-0808-7. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Cordova, Dorothy (1999). Kim, Hyung-Chan (ed.). Distinguished Asian Americans: a biographical dictionary. Ethnographic Reference Bks. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 138–139. ISBN 978-0-313-28902-6. Retrieved May 7, 2013. Larry Itliong died 1977.
  3. ^ a b c d e Patricia Leigh Brown (October 18, 2012). "Forgotten Hero of Labor Fight; His Son's Lonely Quest". New York Times. Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  4. ^ Hurt, R. Douglas. American Agriculture: A Brief History. Lafayette, Ind.: Purdue University Press, 2002. ISBN 1-55753-281-8
  5. ^ Weber, Devra. Dark Sweat, White Gold: California Farm Workers, Cotton, and the New Deal. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press, 1996. ISBN 0-520-20710-6
  6. ^ Feriss, Susan; Sandoval, Ricardo; and Hembree, Diana. The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers Movement. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1998. ISBN 0-15-600598-0
  7. ^ Stephen Magagnini (May 19, 1996). "Out From the Shadows – Filipino Americans Replanting Roots". Sacramento Bee.
  8. ^ Harvey I. Barkin (March 22, 2013). "Calif. city puts off naming school for Fil-Am heroes". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on March 26, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  9. ^ a b Stephen Magagnini (December 28, 1996). "New Light Shed on Pioneering Filipino American". Sacramento Bee.
  10. ^ a b "UFW, ALRB, Unions". Rural Migration News. University of California, Davis. January 2013. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  11. ^ Lisa Ko (September 10, 2009). "Old News: Larry Itliong and the Delano Grape Strike". Hyphen: Asian America Unabridged. Hyphen Magazine. Archived from the original on September 27, 2013. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g Mabalon, Dawn (2013). Little Manila is in the Heart. Durham and London: Duke University Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-8223-5339-3. Archived from the original on September 26, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2013.
  13. ^ García, Matt (2012). From the Jaws of Victory. University of California Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-520-25930-0. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  14. ^ Juan Jr., E. San (1996). The Philippine Temptation: Dialectics of Philippines—U.S. Literary Relations. Asian American History and Culture Series. Temple University Press. p. 81. ISBN 978-1-56639-418-5. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  15. ^ Mabalon, Dawn Bochulano; Reyes, Rico (2008). Filipinos in Stockton. Images of America Series. Filipino American National Historical So, Little Manila Foundation. Arcadia Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-7385-5624-6. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  16. ^ "Filipino Labor Leaders" (PDF). Labor Archives and Research Center (17). San Francisco State University: 1. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 15, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  17. ^ Micah Ellison (2004). "The Local 7/ Local 37 Story: Filipino American Cannery Unionism in Seattle 1940–1959". Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project. University of Washington. Archived from the original on January 9, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  18. ^ a b c Leezel Tanglao (September 4, 2005). "'65 strike set stage for farm labor cause". The Press-Enterprise. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  19. ^ RIck Tejada-Flores (2004). "Cesar Chavez & the UFW". The Fight in the Fields: Cesar Chavez and the Farmworkers' Struggle. Paradigm Productions and Independent Television Service (ITVS). Archived from the original on May 24, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  20. ^ Prosy Abarquez-Delacruz; Enrique Delacruz (February 26, 2011). "The birthplace of labor rights becomes a historic landmark". Asian Journal. Archived from the original on September 9, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
  21. ^ Juan Jr., E. San (1996). The Philippine Temptation: Dialectics of Philippines—U.S. Literary Relations. Asian American History and Culture Series. Temple University Press. pp. 129–130. ISBN 978-1-56639-418-5. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  22. ^ a b Rodel Rodis (September 23, 2005). "40th Anniversary of Historic Farm Workers Strike". Asian Week. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  23. ^ Scharlin, Craig; Villanueva, Lilia V (2000). Philip Vera Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement. University of Washington Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0-295-80295-4. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  24. ^ Madrick, Jeff (2011). Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present. Random House Digital, Inc. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-307-59671-0. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  25. ^ "Guide to the California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. records M0750". Online Archive of California. The Regents of The University of California. 2009. Archived from the original on June 19, 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  26. ^ a b Ross Courtney (April 27, 2006). "Wapato man honors a forgotten hero". Yakima Herald-Republic. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  27. ^ "Yee Honors Late UFW Co-founder and Filipino Farm Labor Organizer". Senator Leland Yee, PhD. California State Senate. March 31, 2006. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved May 8, 2013. In January of 1970, he was appointed as National Boycott Coordinator of the UFWOC.
  28. ^ a b c García, Matt (2012). From the Jaws of Victory. University of California Press. p. 120. ISBN 978-0-520-25930-0. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  29. ^ Guillermo, Emil (September 8, 2015). "Eclipsed by Cesar Chavez, Larry Itliong's Story Now Emerges". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 23, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
  30. ^ Rast, Raymond W.; Gail L. Dubrow; Brian Casserly (February 2007). "National Historic Landmark Nomination: The Forty Acres" (PDF). National Park Service. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  31. ^ Mabalon, Dawn Bochulano; Reyes, Rico (2008). Filipinos in Stockton. Images of America Series. Filipino American National Historical So, Little Manila Foundation. Arcadia Publishing. p. 40. ISBN 978-0-7385-5624-6. Archived from the original on July 2, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  32. ^ a b c Lounn Lota (December 25, 2012). "Obama honors Cesar Chavez but not Delano Manong". Asian Journal. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  33. ^ Joseph Pimentel (October 26, 2012). "Fil-Ams lack awareness on Itliong, 'manongs' of the farm worker movement". Asian Journal. Archived from the original on November 1, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2013. Unfortunately, when speaking or reading about the farm worker movement, Larry Itliong's name and other Filipinos have mostly vanished in mainstream history books. Even the UFW's website, says the union was created by Cesar Chavez.
  34. ^ Fuentes, Ed (October 10, 2013). "10 Monumental Murals of LA". KCET. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved April 21, 2015. "The mural is the first memorial to honor the 1,500 Filipino American farmworkers that ignited the 1965 Delano Grape Strike, who converged with César E. Chávez to form the UFW," says the artist, Eliseo Art Silva.
  35. ^ "CSU Dominguez Hills to unveil mural during celebration – Mural celebrates diversity, historical social accomplishments". The Compton Bulletin. September 8, 2010. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
  36. ^ Steve Angeles (October 7, 2010). "Who is Larry Itliong?". ABS-CBN News. Archived from the original on July 2, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  37. ^ "Larry Itliong Day Celebrated in Honor of Filipino-American Labor Leader". NBC News. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  38. ^ "Governor Newsom Issues Proclamation Declaring Larry Itliong Day 10.25.19 | California Governor". October 25, 2019. Archived from the original on October 25, 2021. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  39. ^ Chris De Benedetti (April 19, 2013). "Union City school is nation's first named after Filipino-Americans, but acrimony over decision remains". Mercury News. Archived from the original on June 20, 2013. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  40. ^ Chris De Benedetti (March 29, 2013). "Opposition to renaming Union City school growing more vocal". Contra Costa Times. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2013.
  41. ^ "Union City police investigate racist graffiti as hate crime". KTVU. April 30, 2013. Archived from the original on December 6, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  42. ^ Chris De Benedetti (March 9, 2013). "Plan to rename Union City school sparks controversy". Mercury News. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  43. ^ Natalie Neysa Alund (May 1, 2013). "Union City: Graffiti scrawled on Filipino businesses investigated as hate crime". Contra Costa Times. Archived from the original on May 6, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  44. ^ "ACR-156 Itliong-Vera Cruz Memorial Bridge". California Legislative Information. State of California. September 2, 2014. Archived from the original on April 19, 2015. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
  45. ^ Leslie Berestein Rojas (April 1, 2011). "The forgotten history of the Filipino laborers who worked with Cesar Chavez". KPCC. Archived from the original on August 5, 2018. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  46. ^ Ruben V. Nepales (October 13, 2012). "Actor talks about playing Fil-Am labor leader in Diego Luna film". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on November 14, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  47. ^ Mejia, Paula (May 17, 2018). "The Forgotten Filipino American Activist Behind the Delano Grape Strike". Atlas Obscura. Archived from the original on May 29, 2018. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  48. ^ Morehouse, Lisa (September 15, 2015). "Grapes Of Wrath: The Forgotten Filipinos Who Led A Farmworker Revolution". The Salt – Weekend Edition Saturday – NPR. Archived from the original on September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  49. ^ "Larry Itliong Collection" (PDF). Walter P. Reuther Library. Wayne State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 4, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2013.
  50. ^ "Larry The Musical". Larry The Musical. Archived from the original on October 23, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
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