News & Events

FILIPINO AMERICAN HISTORY PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBIT June 3, 2023, through July 30, 2023

By Melvin LaGasca and Terri Torres, with information reprinted from https://www.thealvaradoproject.com/

At the Lodi San Joaquin County Historical Museum in Micke Grove Park is an exhibition developed by the Smithsonian’s Asian Pacific American Program in collaboration with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, called “Through My Father’s Eyes: The Filipino American Photographs of Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado (1914-1976)”. This project was created by Janet Alvarado (The Alvarado Project) in 1997, the daughter of Ricardo, and it toured the United States through the Smithsonian’s SITES program from 2003 to 2006. It is now housed in the Department of Special Collections at the Stanford University Libraries and is available for touring through the Exhibit Envoy program.

Ricardo Alvarado arrived in California in 1928 as a 14-year-old in the first wave of Filipino immigrants. Working as a janitor and houseboy, he enlisted in the U.S. Army First Filipino Infantry Regiment in 1942. After serving in combat in the South Pacific during World War II as a medic, he became a civilian cook at San Francisco’s Letterman Army Hospital.

For 20 years he studied the city and nearby rural areas in his free time with his view camera in hand, recording Filipino community life at dances, banquets, baptisms, funerals, and other gatherings. In 1959, Alvarado ended his work in photography and returned to the Philippines to marry Norberta Magallanes. They had two children, Janet and Joseph Alvarado, who currently live in San Francisco.

When he died in 1976, Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado left an archive of nearly 3,000 rare photographs, a vital portrait of early Filipino Americans.

On June 3, 2023, the SJHC Museum opened the Alvarado exhibit with a full day of Filipino food, entertainment, and guest speakers that included members of the Alvarado family. Panelists included Melvin LaGasca (member of the Filipino American National Historical Society [FANHS] Stockton Chapter and FANHS Museum), Dillon Delvo (director of Little Manila Rising), and Sue Hopwood, the niece of Janet Alvarado, with Philip Merlo, Executive Director of the SJHC Museum as facilitator.

Robert R pointing at Dad on guitar

Each were asked how seeing this historic photographic exhibit made them feel about themselves and their community – why was it important to share this exhibit with the public, the youth, etc. All panelists have been involved with the Filipino American community of Stockton and the vicinity for decades are experts in their fields.

“My favorite photo, of many favorites, was the one of my friends, Robert Ragsac’s father, who was playing in a small band,” remarked Mel LaGasca. “The hidden story behind this picture, is Robert still has the guitar of his father in his possession.”

Robert Ragsac remarked “The “Pinoy Band” was playing for a party at the Traveler’s Cafe in San Jose, owned and operated by the Arevalo family. The Cafe was located in the basement of the Gran Oriente Filipino building, a Masonic Lodge, in the old Chinatown area. The band, circa late1940s, was captured by Ricardo Ocreto Alvarado and displayed at an exhibit arranged by his daughter Janet Alvarado, at the San Jose History Park many years ago where I saw it to my amazement. The photo is a significant image as it shows how far my dad rose from a being “Sakada” working in the plantations of Hawaii in the 1920s under the poorest conditions for the Filipino field workers, to a machinist with a love for music through his Gibson.”

Mel LaGasca states, “Sometimes we have to look a little deeper into “generic” pictures in order to get a better understanding of how life was in past generations. This brings me to the point of we all have rich histories behind those family and individual photographs. Taking the time to accurately date plus add descriptions, will add so much more value to any photo. Today’s cell phones have amazing, built-in cameras that give you the opportunity to document! Mr. Ricardo Alvarado used a “Graflex Speed, Graphic 4 x 5 Camera” back in the 1950’s.”

Special thanks to Janet Alvarado for preserving, sharing, and formalizing this exhibit of her father’s wonderful photo collection. plus, to the San Joaquin County Historical Museum for hosting this unique collection of Filipino Americans in their natural settings. Janet will be coming to Stockton to speak at the FANHS Museum on July 9th about her father’s collection. For more information, you may email fanhsmuseum@aol.com or call 209-932-9037 to leave a message.

Thank you to curator, Julie Blood, and executive director Philip Merlo for making the exhibit accessible to the public. Please make sure to visit the museum at 11793 N. Micke Grove Road, Lodi, CA 95240, before it leaves on July 30th.