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Chris D. Mensalvas papers and oral history interview, 1935-1974

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Mensalvas, Chris D., -1977
Title
Chris D. Mensalvas papers and oral history interview
Dates
1935-1974 (inclusive)
Quantity
.25 cubic feet
1 sound cassette
Collection Number
2361 (Accession No. 2361-001)
Summary
Labor union official of Seattle, Washington
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users. The interview and transcript can be accessed online. The original analog tape cannot be played due to preservation concerns.

Request at UW

Additional Reference Guides

Languages
English
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Biographical Note

Between 1910 and 1930, a wave of Filipino immigrants came to the United States. Instead of better opportunities, many encountered discrimination, poor living conditions, and oppressive labor practices. Chris Delarna Mensalvas (1909-1978) immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 1927. He became an important figure in the Filipino labor movements of the 1940s and '50s, organizing unions and initiating strikes for just working conditions and fair wages for farm and cannery workers.

Between the years 1949 and 1959, Mensalvas was president of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union (ILWU) Local 37 in Seattle - the Filipino Alaska cannery workers union. He was publicity director of the local from 1948 to 1949, when it was Local 7 of the Cannery Workers' and Farm Laborers' Union. Mensalvas actively opposed the deportation of Filipinos under the McCarran-Walter Act of 1952. The noted Filipino author and activist Carlos Bulosan and fellow activist Philip Vera Cruz were among his friends. He was an inspiration for later Filipino activists Silme Domingo and Gene Viernes, who consulted him about his labor organizing experiences. Mensalvas died in 1978.

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Content Description

Correspondence, reports, minutes, ephemera, bulletins, yearbook, reports of International Longshoremen & Warehousemen's Union. Local 37, 1935-1968; tape-recorded interview with Mr. Mensalvas conducted by Apolonio Buyagawan, 1974; subject file re Carlos Bulosan, 1948, 1972-73; papers of Everett Gallup Griggs, executive of St. Paul & Tacoma Lumber Company, 1935-1937.

Besides union matters deportation of some Filipinos under the Walter-McCarran Law is an issue reflected in the papers.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

Listen to the audio recording and view the transcript of this interview on the Libraries' Digital Collections website.

Restrictions on Use

Mensalvas's rights may be quoted and published.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection has been subdivided into three records subgroups depending on creator:

  • Records Subgroup I: International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, Local 37
  • Records Subgroup II: Griggs, Everett G. (Re: Boom Men and Rafters Union Local No. 2647
  • Records Subgroup III: Chris Mensalvas' Personal Papers

The subgroup International Longshoremen's & Warehousemen's Union, Local 37 has been subdivided into series by format and function:

  • Series I: Organizational Features, Undated
  • Series II: Incoming Letters, 1948-1959
  • Series III: Outgoing Letters, 1948-1959; Undated
  • Series IV: Reports, 1954-1969; Undated
  • Series V: Bulletins, 1935-1953
  • Series VI: Press Releases, 1953-1958
  • Series VII: Newsletters, 1957
  • Series VIII: Court Papers, 1958
  • Series IX: Yearbook, 1952
  • Series X: Lists, 1954
  • Series XI: Agreements, 1958; Undated
  • Series XII: Nominations, 1958-1959
  • Series XIII: Writings, Undated
  • Series XIV: Convention Credentials, 1953
  • Series XV: Petitions, 1955
  • Series XVI: Photographs (Photocopies), Undated
  • Series XVII: Subject Series, 1954-1968, Undated
  • Series XVIII: Ephemera, Undated

Acquisition Information

Donated by Chris D. Mensalvas, 11/11/1974.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 


2007 (Last modified: 1/31/2020)

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