Estelita Tabios interviewed by Meleia Simon-Reynolds

In this interview, originally recorded in person, Estelita Tabios speaks with Joanne de los Reyes-Hilario, a close family friend, and Meleia Simon-Reynolds, a Watsonville is in the Heart team member. Estelita shares memories of her childhood growing up in the Municipality of Makato, in the Province of Aklan, in the Philippines; the story of how she met and married her first husband, Clemente Tana; and details of her month-long journey to the United States via steamship in 1956. She discusses settling in Watsonville with Clemente and developing a network of relatives and close friends— including the Cawaling, Taytayon, and Tejada families. Estelita describes her and her family members’ labor in agricultural fields; her work on the assembly line at Green Giant from 1962-1966; her job in the laundry department at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, CA; and finally her career as a caregiver for the elderly. She also speaks about her involvement in the Filipino Women’s Club of Watsonville, the Filipino Catholic Association, and the Aklanon Association. Notably, Estelita provides first-person accounts of Filipino Women’s Club members’ various responsibilities and their efforts to build the local Filipino community. Throughout the interview, Estelita emphasizes her dedication to supporting the manong that she came to know in Watsonville as well as her family members in the United States and the Philippines.

Estelita Tabios and Meleia Simon-Reynolds

February 3, 2022

A formal yellow terno-style dress with intricate beading and embroidery worn by Luisa Irao de los Reyes. Luisa had a large collection of formal ternos and more casual dresses that she wore to the Filipino Community, Filipino Women's Club, Filipino Catholic Association, and Fil Visayan events. According to her daughter, Joanne de los Reyes-Hilario, Luisa had her dresses made when she traveled home to visit family in the Philippines. One of her family members owned a textile shop so it was convenient and affordable to obtain fabric and materials. The photograph of the dress was taken at Joanne de los Reyes-Hilario's family home on Elkhorn Road in the Pajaro Valley.

English

Oral History

Meleia Simon-Reynolds

Estelita Tabios

Santa Cruz

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1:07:20

[0:18] Biographical information for Estelita Tabios and her parents, Jose Taytayon and Margarita Tagua
[0:56] Estelita’s memories of growing up in Makato, Aklan, Philippines
[1:38] How Estelita met and married her first husband, Clemente Tana
[6:45] Description of Estelita and Clemente’s wedding
[9:53] Description and memories of the month long steamship voyage to the United States in 1955
[14:20] Estelita’s arrival in San Francisco and Watsonville
[15:24] Description of the first home and neighborhood on Casserly Road
[17:40] Estelita’s first child, Elizabeth “Liz” Tana, is born and Estelita’s adjustment to working in the agricultural fields
[20:43] Family sharecropping on Tulsa Lane
[21:47] Discussion of the Tana children and their reluctance to work in the fields
[23:00] Community organizations that Estelita and her family participated in—Caballeros de Dimas Alang, Filipino Women’s Club of Watsonville, Filipino Catholic Association, Aklanon Association
[24:13] Estelita’s memories of being an active member of the Filipino Women’s Club and discussion of the labor the members did in order to organize and support their communities
[26:20] Community dances in Watsonville, musicians, terno dresses, and the importance of the dances to the manong
[26:32] Liz Tana’s participation in Caballeros de Dimas Alang “queen contest” fundraisers
[27:55] Challenges faced when organizing chapters of the Filipino Catholic Association
[28:50] Estelita’s terno dresses
[31:05] Musicians who played at community events
[33:46] Estelita comments on the difficulty of balancing her labor as a leader of the community organizations and her job
[34:37] Memories of the Watsonville Fourth of July Parades
[35:59] Estelita discusses the women’s efforts to connect the Filipino communities in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Salinas and Castroville and speaks about her close-knit kinship network including the Taytayon, Tejada, and Cawaling families
[38:27] Estelita describes that she felt all of the children in her kinship network were “her kids” and discusses the importance of family
[40:48] Memories of working at Green Giant from 1962-1966
[47:20] Career in the linen department at Dominican Hospital during the late 1960s through the mid 1980s
[54:27] Estelita’s marriage to her second husband, Dioscoro Tabios
[55:00] Estelita states that it was important for her to help bachelor manong return to the Philippines
[56:44] Estelita’s career as an in-home caregiver for the elderly
[1:03:45] Memories of her extended family and kinship network and discussion of how she misses them now that they have moved apart