Dawn Mabalon

Mabalon was born on August 17, 1972, in Stockton, California to Filipinos who had immigrated to the United States from the Philippines;[2] her father was a guerrilla during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines.[4] Mabalon's grandfather, Pablo "Ambo" Mabalon, ran the Lafayette Lunch Counter,[5] an important hub in the community and one of the longest surviving Filipino American businesses in Little Manilla.[6] Many Filipinos frequented the restaurant, including Carlos Bulosan.[7][8] It remained in business until 1983, and the building it had occupied was torn down in 1999.[6][8][9][10] Mabalon's maternal grandmother, Concepcion Moreno Bohulano, was the first school teacher of Filipina descent in the United States.[9][11] Mabalon was also the niece of Fred and Dorthy Cordova;[12] who were involved in the founding of the Filipino American National Historical Society.[13]

During high school, Mabalon was involved in extracurricular activities, including leading her high school's Asian Club, student council, and editor of Hi-Lite.[1] In 1991, Malabon was involved in a January issue of Sassy, being described as a "editor-in-chief".[14] Graduating from Edison High School, her post-secondary education involved attending San Joaquin Delta College, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and earning her doctorate at Stanford University.[4] Mabalon's master's thesis was titled "Filipina Pioneers: The Pinay in Stockton, California, 1929–1946", and was written at UCLA in 1997.[15] Mabalon's doctoral dissertation was titled Life in Little Manila Filipinas/os in Stockton, California, 1917–1972, and published in 2003.[16]

During her time at UCLA, Mabalon was active in the Filipino community on campus. She endorsed the effort to keep Tagalog as an available language taught at the university.[17]

In 1999, Mabalon and Dillon Delvo co-founded The Little Manila Foundation in order to preserve what remained of the Little Manila neighborhood of Stockton, California.[9]

In 2004, Mabalon became a faculty member at San Francisco State University;[1][4] she was an associate professor of history.[11][18] She focused her work on the history of Filipino Americans, Filipinos in Stockton, and Filipinos role in the 20th century labor movement.[4] In particular, she highlighted the often overlooked efforts of Filipino Americans in the 20th Century farm labor movement, which has been seen as primarily a Mexican American movement lead by Cesar Chavez.[19] Mabalon was also on the board of trustees of the Filipino American National Historical Society.[9]

In 2010, photographs taken by Mabalon were published on SFGate about a Filipino American band Skyflakes.[20] In 2015, Mabalon was interviewed about the November 2015 Paris attacks by Voice of America, as she and her husband were visiting the area at the time.[21] In 2017, Mabalon, along with Gayla Romansanta, wrote a children's book about Larry Itliong; the book was published a year later.[22] In 2018, Mabalon visited the Delano campus of Bakersfield College, which is in the area where the Delano grape strike began, for an event about archiving; at the event she spoke to encourage Filipino Americans to preserve their family histories, with the goal of expanding historical narratives.[23]

In 2013, the Filipino Women's Network listed her among their "100 Most Influential Filipinas in the World".[11] In 2014, she received an honorable mention for the Frederick Jackson Turner Award for her book Little Manila Is in the Heart;[9] that same year Mabalon was profiled in the book Remarkable Women of Stockton.[24]

In August 2018, Mabalon died while snorkeling off of Kauai.[4] She had been vacationing with her family prior to her death.[25] Mabalon had an asthma attack when she was out with her sister, and her inhaler did not alleviate her symptoms.[26] She was brought out of the water and 9-1-1 was called.[26] Paramedics attempted CPR and then transported her to an emergency room.[26] She died at the hospital.[27] Mabalon was buried at San Joaquin Catholic Cemetery.[28] Mabalon was survived by her husband of ten years, Jesus Perez Gonzalez.[1] In early October, Mabalon was memorialized at San Francisco State University.[3][29]

Mabalon's work of documenting the history of Filipino Americans continued at the Little Manila Center that she had co-founded even after her death .[30] Mabalon authored three books and was working on a fourth.[3] Her works elevated the status of Little Manila in Stockton and helped lead to Little Manila being listed as one of America's Most Endangered Places.[3][31] The San Francisco Chronicle described Mabalon as "a major figure to California's Filipino Americans".[3]

• Dawn B. Mabalon, Ph.D.; Rico Reyes; Filipino American National Historical So (2008). Filipinos in Stockton. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7385-5624-6.
• Dawn Bohulano Mabalon (May 29, 2013). Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-9574-4.
• Dawn Bohulano Mabalon; Gayle Romasanta (October 2018). Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong. Bridge & Delta Publishing. ISBN 978-1-73219-932-3.

• Official website
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Dawn Bohulano Mabalon at IMDb
• "Community Remembers Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon". Center for Asian American Media. August 13, 2018.
• Lawsin, Emily P. (August 17, 2018). "From the FANHS Family to the Mabalon Family: Remembering FANHS National Scholar and Trustee, Dr. Dawn Bohulano Mabalon (August 17, 1972-August 10, 2018)" (PDF). Filipino American National Historical Society.
• Rob Bonta (August 19, 2018). Bonta Adjourns Assembly in Memory of Filipino-American Historian Dawn Mabalon. Sacramento, California: California State Assembly Democratic Caucus.
• "Episode 28.5 – Stockton's Little Manila, Journey for Justice, and the Legacy of Dawn Mabalon". This Filipino American Life. October 1, 2018.