THE Filipino American Historical Society
Metropolitan New York Chapter
Organized on March 5, 1990, and formally chartered as the sixth chapter of FANHS on February 13, 1991, the Metropolitan New York Chapter serves the Filipino American community throughout the five boroughs of New York City, parts of Northern New Jersey, and Western Connecticut.
The Filipino presence in Metropolitan New York is as longstanding as that of many of the region's immigrant communities. In the wake of the Spanish-American War of 1898, Filipino students began enrolling at institutions such as Columbia University, New York University, and Cornell University in Ithaca. In the decades that followed, Filipino service members and merchant seamen arriving after both World Wars established communities throughout New York and New Jersey, settling in neighborhoods such as Woodside, Jackson Heights, Jamaica, and Jersey City that remain culturally significant to Filipino American life today.
Today, the Metropolitan New York Chapter carries this history forward through its collaborations with a broad network of community organizations, cultural institutions, and civic partners across the region. Every October, the chapter joins the community in celebrating and honoring Filipino Americans who have made a lasting impact on the New York metropolitan area. Through these partnerships, the chapter continues its founding mission of preserving and disseminating Filipino American history and culture for present and future generations. We invite those who share in this mission to become members, lending their support to our educational programming, community initiatives, and oral history projects that safeguard the stories of Filipina/o/x America for generations to come.
