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The International Hotel struggle and the Filipino community

August 4, 1977 will go down in infamy as the date the City and County of San Francisco executed the most ruthless persecution and violent destruction of human life unparalleled ever except for the 1934 General Strike. The main blow was directed at Manilatown and the Filipinos who lived on Kearny Street since the early 1900's.

Final evictions were carried out in 1977. For those elderly Filipinos and Chinese who fought and stood in defense of their home that night, it was a sad commentary of how inhumane their treatment and the disgrace of a city uncaring to handle the housing crisis and the homeless victims of this and other evictions. However, continued community organizing prevented the owner from building his planned development, even after the building was demolished in 1981. The hole in the ground served for years as a glaring reminder of the human costs and sacrifices to defend affordable housing for minorities and the poor.

In 1994 the owner agreed to sell the property to the Catholic diocese, leading to the construction of a new I-Hotel of low-cost senior housing with a Filipino community center which opened in 2005.

Documents

Conversation about Liz DelSol's experiences with I-Hotel and ManilaTown (EH) Conversation about Liz DelSol's experiences with I-Hotel and ManilaTown (EH)
Date: 10/30/1996Call Number: IH 007Format: Cass A & BCollection: The International Hotel struggle and the Filipino community
Estella Habal interviews Liz Delsol about her experiences with the movement. She explains how she joined as a UC Berkeley student in the late 60s. Being third generation Filipina, her roots go back to her Grandparents living in Oakland. Liz's grandpa even worked on building the bay bridge. When Liz became involved and moved into the hotel, her parents looked down upon her because Manila Town was considered the "red-light district". Because her father was once part of the wild crowd of Manila Town, he knew of the seediness and didn't want his daughter around those men. However, Liz had an organic link with the old men due to her being in and around the area as a little girl. Liz has memories of Tino the barber and visiting many businesses. Liz reminiscences about a well-known manong named Lugasby. He was educated, stylish and many looked up to him. Being part of the beatnik generation, Lugasby had published work. Manila Town used to be ten blocks long down Kearny Street, but by the time of the International Hotel struggle it shrunk to just one block. The interview ends with the two reminiscing about differences of activism and politics.