00Enrolled SCR 14                                                                                                         
01 Recognizing October 2010 as Filipino American History Month.                                                            
02                                        _______________                                                                  
03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                             
04      WHEREAS the earliest documented Filipino presence in Alaska was at Cook Inlet on                                 
05 June 17, 1788, when a ship from the Philippines arrived with a Filipino crew member; and                                
06      WHEREAS records of whaling ship crews available at the New Bedford Whaling                                       
07 Museum in New Bedford, Massachusetts, positively identify whaling crew members in                                       
08 Alaska as Filipinos; and                                                                                                
09      WHEREAS, during the early 1900s, Filipino cannery workers, calling themselves                                    
10 "Alaskeros," began to live permanently in Alaska; and                                                                   
11      WHEREAS Filipinos worked primarily as ore sorters for the various gold mines in                                  
12 Southeast Alaska, including the Alaska Juneau Gold Mining Company, the Treadwell Mine                                   
13 and Mills, and the Ready Bullion Mine and Mill; and                                                                     
14      WHEREAS Filipinos in Alaska were notified by the Selective Service to register for                               
15 the draft to serve the United States during World War I, and 50 Filipinos were drafted; and                             
16      WHEREAS Filipino American servicemen and service women have a longstanding                                     
17 history of serving in the armed forces of the United States in World War II, when Filipinos                             

01 fought against the Japanese invasion; and                                                                               
02      WHEREAS, by 1940, there were 403 Filipinos in Alaska, by official count, and                                   
03 Filipino organizations had been founded in Ketchikan, Juneau, and Anchorage; and                                        
04      WHEREAS Filipinos in Alaska have made significant contributions to the growth of                                 
05 the state's economy; and                                                                                                
06      WHEREAS the Filipino American community in Alaska, numbering approximately                                       
07 18,000, is the largest Asian-American group in the state; and                                                           
08      WHEREAS Filipino Americans have contributed greatly to the fine arts, music,                                     
09 dance, literature, education, business, journalism, sports, fashion, politics, government,                              
10 science, technology, and other fields in the United States that enrich the landscape of the                             
11 country; and                                                                                                          
12      WHEREAS efforts should continue to promote the study of Filipino American                                        
13 history and culture, as mandated in the mission statement of the Filipino American National                             
14 Historical Society, because the roles of Filipino Americans and other people of color have                              
15 been overlooked in the writing, teaching, and learning of American history; and                                         
16      WHEREAS it is imperative for Filipino American youth to have positive role models                                
17 to instill in them the importance of education, complemented with the richness of their                                 
18 ethnicity and the value of their legacy; and                                                                            
19      WHEREAS, in 1982, the Filipino American National Historical Society was                                          
20 organized in Seattle, Washington, by Fred and Dorothy Cordova; and                                                      
21      WHEREAS Filipino American History Month is celebrated during the month of                                        
22 October in the United States;                                                                                         
23      BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature recognizes the celebration of                                   
24 Filipino American History Month in October 2010 as a time to study the advancement of                                   
25 Filipino Americans, as a time of reflection and remembrance, and as a time to renew efforts to                          
26 research and examine Filipino American history and culture in order to provide an                                       
27 opportunity for all people in Alaska to appreciate and learn more about Filipino Americans                              
28 and their historic contribution to the nation and to the state; and be it                                               
29      FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature urges the people of Alaska                                    
30 to observe Filipino American History Month in October 2010 with appropriate programs and                                
31 activities.