Summary

Program of the Filipino Association of Victoria for the 'Mabuhay' Night Celebration, 71st Philippine Independence Day, at Rembrandt Receptions, 675 Glenferrie Road Hawthorn. The program includes a fashion parade, folk dances, and the Philippine National Anthem. Guests of honour included Archbishop Dr J.R. Knox and Victorian Minister and Mrs J.W. Manson.

This item is part of a collection of material relating to the migration and settlement experiences of seamen from the Philippines during the post World War II era in Australia; and the experiences of the local Anglo-Australian women they married.

Physical Description

Typed four page, folded at centre, document on white gloss paper and photo of a cenotaph on front cover.

Significance

This collection and story represents an important narrative in Australia's migration history, regarding the challenges faced by seamen from the Philippines caught in Melbourne during the outbreak of World War II and unable to return home, trying to settle in Melbourne and marry locally-born women of Anglo-Australian background. It also shows the prejudice these women themselves faced. The collection reveals a community of these men and women and their families, connected through family relationships; and it demonstrates the vagaries of bureaucracy, and the influence of the White Australia policy, still officially in force at that time.

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