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Watsonville is in the Heart: Community Digital Archive

Lorraine “Rain” Sipin Bongolan interviewed by Una Lynch

Dublin Core

Title

Lorraine “Rain” Sipin Bongolan interviewed by Una Lynch

Description

In this interview, originally recorded in person, Lorraine “Rain” Sipin Bongolan speaks with Watsonville is in the Heart team member, Una Lynch. Rain talks about her father, Felix Hidalgo Bongolan’s immigration from Santiago, Ilocos Sur, Philippines to Oahu, Hawai’i where he worked as a foreman for Dole pineapple plantations during the 1940s. She shares how Felix met Irene “Inning” Sipin. They communicated via letters until Felix was able to travel back to the Philippines to marry Irene in 1951. Rain also talks about her mother, Irene’s life growing up in the Philippines during Japanese occupation. Rain explains how her parents eventually settled in Watsonville, where Irene's brothers were already living. She describes Felix’s work as a camp cook at a Filipino labor camp on Lee Road in Watsonville and Irene’s involvement with Filipino community events. Rain also elaborates on how notions of assimilation and the American nuclear family impacted her experience growing up in Watsonville.

Creator

Lorraine “Rain” Sipin Bongolan
Una Lynch

Date

April 5, 2023

Rights

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 Soundcloud. 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.

Language

English

Type

Oral History

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Interviewer

Una Lynch

Interviewee

Lorraine “Rain” Sipin Bongolan

Location

Watsonville

Original Format

.wav

Duration

1:41:13

URL

Link to audio recording on escholarship: Lorraine "Rain" Bongolan interviewed by Una Lynch

Files

Lorraine _Rain_ Bongolan interviewed by Una Lynch.pdf

Citation

Lorraine “Rain” Sipin Bongolan and Una Lynch, “Lorraine “Rain” Sipin Bongolan interviewed by Una Lynch,” Watsonville is in the Heart: Community Digital Archive, accessed November 7, 2024, https://wiith-archive.ucsc.edu/items/show/1201.

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