Noted Filipina American historian passes away

DAWN BOHULANO MABALON, 1972-2018

ONE OF FOREMOST HISTORIANS and advocates for Filipino Americans died Friday (Aug. 10) while vacationing in Kauai.

Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon passed away while vacationing in Hawaii with her family. She would have celebrated her 46th birthday on Aug. 17.

“Dawn had represented the best of Stockton and she will be missed very much,” said Lange Luntao said Filipino American community leader to the Stockton Record. “Her research on the Filipino/a neighborhoods and community members in Stockton inspired scholars from around the world and put on the map in a positive way. There’s a lot of work to do to continue her legacy and highlight Stockton’s rich and diverse history.”

Dr. Mabalon was a professor at San Francisco State University where she taught history and U.S.-Philippines relations.  She received an M.A. in Asian American Studies from UCLA and a Ph.D. in history from Stanford University. Her research focuses on Filipina/o American history, historic and cultural preservation, and the Filipina/o American food traditions. 

In 2013, she wrote the book, "Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California," which was awarded an honorable mention for the Frederick Jackson Turner Award (best first book) by the Organization of American Historians. 

Her research for the book led to a movement to preserve and restore parts of what was the Little Manila neighborhood in her native Stockton, which once was the largest Filipino American community in the U.S.

For her work and advocacy, she was named to the list of the Filipina Women’s Network's 100 Most Influential Filipinas in the World in 2013.

“We connected as academics, activists, family centered, food loving women, and most significantly; dedicated believers of Stockton,” said Assemblywoman Susan Talamantes Eggman on Facebook post. “She lived her life with purpose and richness. Her impact will be felt for generation to come.”

Details of any services or celebrations of life are pending.

A GoFundMe account has been made can be found online to plan and pay for celebrations of her life in San Francisco, Los Angeles and her hometown of Stockton.

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