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Watsonville is in the Heart: Community Digital Archive

Millares Family Collection

Dublin Core

Title

Millares Family Collection

Description

John Madio Millares was born January 5, 1907, in the municipality of Bangar, in the region of La Union, in the Philippines to a rice- and tobacco-farming family. He was the youngest of eight children. In 1927, he followed one of his brothers-in-law and migrated to Hawai‘i. He worked as a contract laborer in the sugarcane fields and the sugar mills for three years. In 1930, he traveled to California with other Filipinos from Hawai‘i to join the agricultural migrant circuit, along which he worked in fields around Bakersfield, Stockton, and Fresno as well as in Arizona.

In 1935, John and his friends traveled to Watsonville for additional agricultural work. Though settled in Watsonville, he continued to migrate for work, completing contracts in Alaskan canneries and Seattle during the late 1930s and early 1940s. He also continued working in the fields of the Imperial Valley, Stockton, San Juan Bautista, Hollister, and Pajaro Valley. When Pearl Harbor was bombed in 1941, John was working in Hollister. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force and was stationed principally in Hawai‘i.

While serving in the military, he married Vera Marshall, whom he met while working in San Luis Obispo County. Vera was born on January 14, 1922, in Kansas. She came to California with her family in the late 1930s. She and John traveled to Washington to marry due to anti-miscegenation laws and discrimination against interracial couples in California. After John was discharged from the military in 1946, the couple settled in the Pajaro Valley. Three years later, they purchased a home in Hollister, where they raised their two daughters, Joan Millares Rodriguez (b. 1941) and Mary Janet Millares Nasaire (b. 1943 – d. 2003). John worked as a forklift driver for the Rohnert Seed Company in San Benito County for over thirty years, retiring in 1985.

Vera passed in 1997, and John in 2004.

The Millares Family Collection was provided to Watsonville is in the Heart by John and Vera Millares's daughter, Joan Ellen Rodriguez, in 2021. The collection contains two hundred and sixty-two items. Two hundred and five of the items are photographs and postcards from John's personal photograph album. The album documents his migrant labor and military experiences. A large section of his album includes multiple souvenir photographs of women in Hawaiian costumes and performers in USO (United Service Organizations) shows, documenting the leisure activities he took part in as a soldier while stationed in Hawai‘i. Other photographs include inscriptions that indicate that select photographs were sent to John to be added to his personal album. This suggests that John's photography and collection practices were well-known among family and friends.

Contributor

Joan Ellen Rodriguez

Collection Items

Mary and Manzie.
This is a black and white photograph of Mary Millares and Manzanita "Manzie" Garcia, standing together in a yard.

Mary and Manzie dancing.
This is a black and white photograph of young Mary Millares and Manzanita "Manzie" Garcia in a yard, posed together like they were dancing .

Johnny and the Mortelas.
This is a black and white photograph of Trini Mortela and John "Johnny" Madio Millares with George, Frank, and John Mortela, as written on the back of the photograph. They stand together in front of a car. The Mortela family are friends who lived in…

Mr & Mrs Sulay
This is a black and white photograph of Mamerto "Max" Sulay and Virgina Viner Sulay posing together in a park, looking very well dressed. On the back is written: "Mr & Mrs Max Sulay Rt 4 Box 234a Watsonville Calif." There is a stamp from the Krystal…

Johnny, Sharky, and Max.
This is a black and white photograph of John "Johnny" Madio Millares, "Sharky," and Mamerto "Max" Sulay, standing together with their arms around each other.

Soldiers in front of a tent.
This is a black and white photograph of two Filipino soldiers standing in front of a tent, with their guns resting on their shoulder. John "Johnny" Madio Millares can be identified on the left.

Easter barbecue,1949.
This is a black and white photograph of 4 Filipino men roasting a pig. John "Johnny" Madio Millares can be identified on the left. The back of the photograph is captioned: "Taken May 1949 Easter 17th."

Filipino soldiers posing on steps.
This is a black and white photograp of 3 Filipino soldiers posing on steps in their uniforms. John "Johnny" Madio Millares is standing in the middle.

Studio photograph of Johnny.
Studio photograph of John "Johnny" Madio Millares on a postcard. In this photo, Johnny is wearing a suit and hat.

Johnny and Sharky.
Studio photograph of John "Johnny" Madio Millares (left) and "Sharky" (right).

3 Filipinos in front of a tent.
This is a photograph of 3 Filipinos in unifrom holding rifles in front of tents. John "Johnny" Madio Millares can be identified in the middle.

Johnny in the car.
This is a black and white photograph of John "Johnny" Madio Millares sitting in the drivers seat of a car.

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