Anthony "Tony" Bernard Tapiz interviewed by Ian Hunte Doyle

In this interview, originally conducted in person, Anthony “Tony” Bernard Tapiz, Jr. speaks with Watsonville is in the Heart team member, Ian Hunt Doyle. Tony primarily talks about his grandfather, Arsenio “Archie” Soblechero Lopez, who immigrated from Villasis, Pangasinan, Philippines to California in 1929. Tony begins the interview by describing Archie’s Santa Cruz barbershop. He explains that Filipino men would gather in the Ace Cardroom, which Archie operated behind the barbershop, to gamble. He also describes how the barbershop smelled of his grandfather’s Ilocano cooking. Tony remembers attending Filipino community dances as a kid, where Archie’s band, Archie and the Islanders, would perform. Tony also speaks about his grandmother, Margaret Yepez Lopez, and her involvement in the Filipino Women’s Club of Watsonville. He touches on his grandparents' interracial marriage and the obstacles they had to overcome to marry. He also reflects on his experience being Filipino and Mexican or “mestizo.” This interview took place at Upper Crust Pizza on Mission Street in Santa Cruz, California. This used to be the location of Archie Lopez’s barbershop. In the interview, ambient noise and the voices of other customers can be heard.

Anthony "Tony" Bernard Tapiz Jr.

Ian Hunte Doyle

March 14, 2023

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.

English

Oral History

Ian Hunte Doyle

Anthony "Tony" Bernard Tapiz Jr.

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