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<item xmlns="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5" itemId="1198" public="1" featured="0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5 http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5/omeka-xml-5-0.xsd" uri="https://wiith-archive.ucsc.edu/items/show/1198?output=omeka-xml&amp;sort_field=Dublin+Core%2CCreator" accessDate="2026-04-16T09:43:39+00:00">
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      <src>https://wiith-archive.ucsc.edu/files/original/ec0adbe4c04973bd807c0d7b8ab1b0dc.pdf</src>
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        <name>Dublin Core</name>
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          <element elementId="50">
            <name>Title</name>
            <description>A name given to the resource</description>
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                <text>Baniaga Family Collection</text>
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            <name>Description</name>
            <description>An account of the resource</description>
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                <text>The Baniaga family originates from the municipality of  Vintar in the province of Ilocos Norte in the Philippines. In 1927, Calixto Baniaga migrated to Hawai‘i to pursue work in the sugar cane industry. Eventually, several members of Calixto’s extended family followed him to Hawai’i, including Macrina Magarin and his son Eusibio “Chevy” Magarin Baniaga (b. 1910). After arriving in Hawai‘i in 1928, Eusibio joined his father working in the Hawaiian sugar cane fields. In the 1930s, Eusibio migrated to the continental United States where he became a farm worker and followed seasonal crop harvests throughout the West Coast. After 1942, Eusibio enlisted in the US military and served in the Filipino Infantry Regiment in the Pacific Theater during World War II. After the war, likely in 1947, Eusibio met and married Maxima “Sima” Vea (b. unknown), a Filipina who was also from Vintar, Ilocos Norte. Eusibio returned to the US after their wedding and Maxima followed in 1948. Eusibio and Maxima settled in Watsonville where they both worked at various Pajaro Valley farms. Maxima also worked at Watsonville Canning Company. They had three children: Anthony “Tony” Magarin Baniaga, Sr. (1948), Lolita Baniaga (b. 1949 d. 2016), and Erlinda Baniaga Soto (b. 1952). &#13;
&#13;
Other members of the Baniaga extended family also migrated to Watsonville. This included Macrina Magarin, who migrated from Hawai‘i to the US in 1960 to join her husband, Francisco Baniaga who was working in California’s Central Valley. In 1962,  their daughter, Jobita “Betty” Magarin (b. 1944) migrated to the Central Valley. Eventually, Betty moved to Watsonville to live with her relatives Eusibio and Maxima. In 1969, Betty traveled back to Vintar where she met and married Romeo Vea Baniaga Sr. (b. 1930). Betty and Romeo returned to Watsonville where they both worked in Pajaro Valley’s agricultural, industrial, and domestic sectors. Betty and Romeo Sr. had two children: Ruby “Ruthy” Baniaga Kalidonis (b. 1970) and Romeo “Junior” Magarin Baniaga Jr.  (b. 1971).&#13;
&#13;
The Baniaga Family Collection was donated to Watsonville is in the Heart in 2022. It contains two oral history interviews conducted with Anthony “Tony” Magarin Baniaga and Ruby “Ruthy” Baniaga Kalidonis.&#13;
&#13;
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            <name>Contributor</name>
            <description>An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource</description>
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                <text>Anthony “Tony” Magarin Baniaga</text>
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                <text>Ruby “Ruthy” Baniaga Kalidonis</text>
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    <name>Oral History</name>
    <description>A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.</description>
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        <name>Interviewer</name>
        <description>The person(s) performing the interview</description>
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            <text>Markus Faye Portacio</text>
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        <name>Interviewee</name>
        <description>The person(s) being interviewed</description>
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            <text>Tony Baniaga</text>
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        <name>Location</name>
        <description>The location of the interview</description>
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            <text>Zoom </text>
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        <name>Original Format</name>
        <description>The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data</description>
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          <elementText elementTextId="11867">
            <text>.m4a</text>
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      <element elementId="16">
        <name>Time Summary</name>
        <description>A summary of an interview given for different time stamps throughout the interview</description>
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          <elementText elementTextId="11868">
            <text>1:35:41</text>
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        <name>URL</name>
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            <text>&lt;span style="font-weight: 400;"&gt;Link to audio recording on escholarship: &lt;/span&gt;&lt;a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/86z2t9hb#supplemental" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Tony Baniaga interviewed by Markus Faye Portacio&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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          <name>Title</name>
          <description>A name given to the resource</description>
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              <text>Tony Baniaga interviewed by Markus Faye Portacio</text>
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          <name>Description</name>
          <description>An account of the resource</description>
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              <text>In this interview, originally conducted via Zoom, Tony Baniaga speaks with Markus Faye Portacio, a member of the Watsonville is in the Heart project team. Tony discusses his father Eusibio “Chevy” Margarin Baniaga’s migration history including his experience in Hawai‘i working in the sugarcane fields and working in the continental United States as a migrant farm laborer. He explains how Eusibio served in the Filipino Infantry Regiment during World War II. He also discusses his mother, Maxima “Sima” Vea Baniaga’s experience working in Pajaro Valley agricultural fields alongside Eusibio and her job at Watsonville Canning Company. Tony describes his experiences growing up in the Pajaro Valley including attending Pajaro Elementary and Watsonville High School and working in agricultural fields throughout his adolescence. Tony also reflects on his time in the navy from 1969 to 1975, his service during the Vietnam War, his experiences while he was stationed in the Philippines  and racial dynamics in the US military. Throughout the interview, Tony discusses the various Pajaro Valley farms where his relatives worked, this included West Coast Farms, Crosetti Farms, Sears Brothers, and Driscoll. &#13;
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        <element elementId="39">
          <name>Creator</name>
          <description>An entity primarily responsible for making the resource</description>
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              <text>Tony Baniaga </text>
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              <text>Markus Faye Portacio</text>
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        <element elementId="40">
          <name>Date</name>
          <description>A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource</description>
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              <text>July 10,  2022</text>
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        <element elementId="47">
          <name>Rights</name>
          <description>Information about rights held in and over the resource</description>
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              <text>Watsonville is in the Heart (WIITH) is a community-driven public history initiative to preserve and uplift stories of Filipino migration and labor in the city of Watsonville and greater Pajaro Valley. All oral history interviews are donated to WIITH by the narrators. Copyright is held by WIITH. Oral history interview recordings and transcripts are available for unrestricted use and reproduction by educators and researchers. Please note that the recordings on this website are provided via escholarship. For access to oral history audio files, please contact the project director at wiith@ucsc.edu. If you are an oral history narrator and would like to remove your interview from the archive website, please contact the project director.</text>
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          <name>Language</name>
          <description>A language of the resource</description>
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              <text>English </text>
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          <name>Type</name>
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              <text>Oral History</text>
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      <name>Driscoll</name>
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      <name>Filipino Infantry Regiment</name>
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      <name>Military</name>
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      <name>Sears Brothers</name>
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      <name>Watsonville Canning Company</name>
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    <tag tagId="155">
      <name>Watsonville High School</name>
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      <name>West Coast Farms</name>
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