The CAAM family is heartbroken to hear that Professor Dawn Bohulano Mabalon passed away on August 10. She was a scholar, advocate and mentor to many. Dawn wrote the book, Little Manila is in the Heart, about the Filipino American community in Stockton, CA.
Dawn was a professor at San Francisco State University. She held the roles of being an academic, teacher and community-scholar.
CAAM had the privilege of working with Dawn and her collection of home movies as part of CAAM’s Memories to Light: Asian American Home Movies initiative.
“Dawn was a leader in the Asian American cultural community and a great friend to us,” CAAM Executive Director Stephen Gong said. “We are deeply saddened to hear about her untimely passing, and our hearts go out to her family, friends, and community whom she deeply impacted in positive ways.”
Dawn donated 12 reels of family home movies to the Memories to Light project. CAAM’s former Media Fund Manager, Davin Agatep, was one of her students at SF State. The film above is Executive Produced by Stephen Gong and produced by John C. Liau and Davin Agatep.
Jasmine Lee Ehrhardt wrote an article about Dawn’s home movies for CAAM’s website:
“Dawn’s knowledge of and connection to Filipino American history in Stockton made her a perfect participant in this project, and luckily, she had some home movies to contribute. The film, commissioned by CAAM and made by John Liau, talks about how Stockton was a hub for Filipino American labor activism, with many who worked in the farm fields. Folks like Carlos Bulosan and Larry Itliong came through Dawn’s grandfather’s Filipino restaurant in Stockton.”
Many shared memories and tributes to Dawn, who was 46, on social media this weekend, using the hashtag #DawnMabalonisIntheHeart.
A GoFundMe has been set up for her memorial.
