Chapter history
In July of 1998, the Filipino community of Albuquerque and New Mexico celebrated, along with Filipinos around the world, the Philippine Centennial, 100th anniversary of the independence from the rule of Spain.
FANHS founder, Fred Cordova, accepted an invitation by Dely Alcantara to attend our community celebration and to be a guest speaker. He spoke about FANHS and what FANHS is all about. He also presented a documentary produced by FANHS, "Filipino Americans, Dicovering their Past for the Future". To cap the celebration, a picnic was organized at a local park, where while sitting on the grass, Fred Cordova preposed to our community leaders that a chapter be formed in New Mexico.
Feeling quite honored and intimidated at the same time to join a nationally established organization like FANHS, New Mexican Fil-Ams stepped up to the plate to first organize the new unnamed New Mexico chapter. At the helm is Dely Alcantara and husband, Ted Jojola, both respected educators from the University of New Mexico (UNM). Along with volunteers, the families of David Galbiso, Evelio Sabay, Ver Velasco, Consuelo Aquino, Myrna Samson, Connie Perkins, and other members of the Filipino community, the chapter began to form. Ted and Dely attended the Biennial National Conference that following October in Seattle where Fred announced to the conference the formation of the Rio Grande chapter. Since then, the chapter have accomplished plenty of projects, including journals of family histories, ongoing oral history presentations, a biennial recognition of accomplished Filiipnos and Filipino Americans in the Rio Grande region called the "Pamana" Heritage Awards, and an upcoming book project. Another accomplishment is the completion of the Bataan-Corregidor Veterans Memorial at Bataan park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with collaboration with the Bataan-Corregidor Memorial Foundation of New Mexico and the Filipino American Foundation of New Mexico; these granite pillars list the names of American soldiers who were forced to walk the Bataan Death March in World War II.
Most recently, the Rio Grande FANHS co-sponsored the Nao de China: the Manila Galleon Trade 1565-1815 Exhibit at the National Hispanic Cultural Center in Albuquerque, where the Philippine flag also flies.
The Rio Grande Chapter continues it's quest for untold history of Filipinos in the Rio Grande region.