https://wiith-archive.ucsc.edu/files/original/56ed0650739895823eae63e2d0c544e5.pdf a70d5e030559a1bc5c1abc65594ab0f5 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Tana and Tabios Family Collection Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Estelita Tabios Elizabeth "Liz" Tana Description An account of the resource Clemente Vargas Tana was born on November 27, 1902, in the barangay of Calimbajan, in the municipality of Makato, in the province of Aklan, in the Philippines. Eventually, Clemente immigrated to the United States where he engaged in seasonal migrant labor working in the Alaskan fisheries and agricultural fields throughout the West Coast. The exact date and other details of Clemente’s initial migration to the United States are unknown. Before World War II, Clemente enlisted in the U.S. Navy and worked as a cook. He was discharged from the Navy before the start of the war, however, the exact dates of his service are unknown. Due to his service, Clemente was able to gain U.S. citizenship. After leaving the Navy, Clemente returned to migrant agricultural work in California. During this time, he began living and working in Watsonville, California. In 1952, Clemente visited his family in the Philippines. During his trip, he met Estelita “Lita” Taytayon (now Tabios). Lita was born on December 30, 1931 in Makato, Aklan, Philippines. The two met through their relatives. After their initial meeting, Clemente returned to the United States and continued to correspond with Lita via mail. In 1956, Clemente traveled back to the Philippines along with his townmate and friend, Florencio Cawaling. In January 1956, Clemente and Lita got married. In April 1956, they embarked on a month-long steamship journey to the United States. They arrived in May 1956 and settled in Watsonville. In Watsonville, Clemente and Lita sharecropped strawberries with Florencio and Aladina Cawaling and Eliseo and Rosalinda Taytayon. They had four children Elizabeth Taytayon Tana (b.1957), Clemente Taytayon Tana (b. 1958), Alberto Tana (b. 1959, d.1964), and Alvin Jon Tabios (b.1967). The family moved to several different homes throughout Watsonville and the Pajaro Valley area. Clemente continued to work in agriculture until retiring due to health concerns during the 1960s. Lita also worked in the agricultural fields alongside Clemente and other family members. Additionally, she worked in the Green Giant cannery from 1962 to 1966. In 1969, Lita remarried Dioscoro Tabios. Dioscoro was born in 1908 and belonged to the extended kinship network made up of Filipinos from Makato, Aklan, Philippines that included the Tana, Cawaling, and Taytayon families. The details of Dioscoro’s immigration to the United States is unidentified, however, he began working in Watsonville in 1929. Although Lita remarried, she, Clemente, Dioscoro, and the Tana children remained a close-knit family. Eventually, Dioscoro officially adopted Alvin Jon. The Tana and Tabios family, most notably Lita, were active members of several Filipino community organizations including the Filipino Women’s Club of Watsonville, Caballeros de Dimas-Alang, and the Filipino Catholic Association. Lita eventually pursued a career in healthcare. She worked in the laundry department at Dominican Hospital in Santa Cruz, California, and then as an in-home caregiver for elderly patients. Lita still lives in Santa Cruz. Clemente passed away in 1982 and Dioscoro passed away in 1989. The Tana and Tabios Family Collection was contributed to Watsonville is in the Heart in 2021 and 2022 by Estelita Tabios and Liz Tana. It contains ten items in total. This includes one oral history interview with Estelita in which she shares her experience migrating to Watsonville during the 1950s and discusses her careers in Green Giant Cannery and the healthcare industry. The collection also includes six photographs that document women's participation in community organizations; a scrapbook created by Liz Tana; and two material culture objects. Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Interviewer The person(s) performing the interview Meleia Simon-Reynolds Interviewee The person(s) being interviewed Estelita Tabios Location The location of the interview Santa Cruz Original Format The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data .wav Duration Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.) 1:07:20 Time Summary A summary of an interview given for different time stamps throughout the interview [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 URL <span style="font-weight: 400;">Link to audio recording on escholarship: <a href="https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7mc6d8hf#supplemental" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Estelita Tabios interviewed by Meleia Simon-Reynolds</a></span> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Estelita Tabios interviewed by Meleia Simon-Reynolds Description An account of the resource 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. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Estelita Tabios and Meleia Simon-Reynolds Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource February 3, 2022 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource 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. Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Oral History Agriculture Aklan Caballeros de Dimas-Alang Canneries Casserly Road Dances Fashion Filipino Catholic Association Fourth of July Green Giant Transnational Tulsa Lane Watsonville