Oral History Collaborations

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 Makato, Aklan, 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.