HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 2024-4676

HR 4676

ByRepresentatives Chandler and Sandlin

WHEREAS, The National Park Service on January 3, 2024, placed the Filipino Hall of the Yakima Valley on the National Register of Historic Places, following the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation placement of the Hall on the Washington State Register of Historic Places in September 2023; and

WHEREAS, The Filipino American National Historical Society has declared that the Filipino Hall of the Yakima Valley is the first such community hall built "from the ground up" expressly for the purpose of being a Filipino Community Hall; and

WHEREAS, The Filipino Hall of the Yakima Valley located in Wapato continues to be a place for gathering, a place for safety, and a beacon for organizing, for families of the Yakima Valley, the State of Washington, and the Pacific Northwest; and

WHEREAS, Filipinos first entered the Yakima Valley in the 1910's, arriving in the United States seeking opportunities in "the land of milk and honey" and faced institutional and personal hardships; and

WHEREAS, The first anti-Filipino riots in the United States occurred in the Yakima Valley in 1927, and Filipinos were challenged by hostility: Anti-Alien Land and Anti-Miscegenation Laws, little immigration of Filipino women, the beginning of the Great Depression, and other obstacles; and

WHEREAS, The Filipino Hall of the Yakima Valley was started in 1948 and had its Grand Opening on March 22, 1952; and

WHEREAS, The Yakima Valley was the home of legendary Filipino American Washingtonians including Roy Baldoz, Harry Bucsit, Julius Ruiz, Carlos Bulosan, Pedro Batin, Lorena Bucsit Silva, and Reynaldo Pascua; and

WHEREAS, The State of Washington has permanently declared October as Filipino American History Month;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State House of Representatives recognize with pleasure the designation of the Filipino Hall of the Yakima Valley on the National Register of Historic Places; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Washington State House of Representatives call upon all citizens of the State to join in celebrating the said designation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to the Filipino American Community of the Yakima Valley, to Rey Pascua, Trustee of the Filipino American Historical Society and Emeritus Commissioner of the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs, to Maricres Castro of Tacoma, Immigration and Refugee Affairs Commissioner for the City of Tacoma, and Allen Acosta of Olympia, Veterans Affairs Advocate, for distribution to Asian American and Pacific Islander organizations, governmental agencies, historical and higher education institutions, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction.