Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

According to writer David C. McCullough, “History is a guide to navigation in perilous times.  History is who we are and why we are the way we are.”  History, in fact, is what makes us more human.  

But history, however, always has two sides -- and only a number of people know the factual course of events.

In War and Dissent:  US in the Philippines, 1898-1915, a mixed-media exhibit by the Presidio Trust, offers an open perspective of the war in the Philippines that also triggered strong dissent within the United States as the nation changed from a republic based on the consent of the governed to the possessor of a colonial empire.  

It was the Spanish-American War of 1898 -- and the Philippine War that immediately followed it -- were turning points in the United States’ role in the world and had a great impact on the Presidio of San Francisco.

“The exhibit shows the very important transition of Presidio as a coastal defense, to a Pacific expansion,” said Dr. Randolph Delehanty, historian with the Presidio Trust and curator of the exhibit.  He also cited the changes in the character of Presidio and San Francisco after it became the entry for US troops who came back from the Philippines.  In fact, in the 1899, the Letterman Army Hospital was founded and established in Presidio, the second largest Army hospital in the US by the 1920s.  

“That period changed the nature of the Presidio, opening the shipping and trade connection between San Francisco, Honolulu and Manila,” Dr. Delehanty added.

Chronicling the growth of the Presidio into a major military installation and the rise of the US into an imperial power, the most important aspect of the exhibit is the exploration of the dissent that erupted around the war.  

The exhibit is a collection of photographs, San Francisco monuments, diaries, letters, political cartoons, recordings, maps and flags that looks at the Spanish-American and Philippine Wars from several points of view, including Filipino points of view, in nine themed galleries.  In fact, Filipino historian, journalist and award-winning author Ambeth Ocampo recently delivered a special presentation at the Presidio as part of the Redmond Kernan Annual History Lecture and special programs accompanying the exhibit.  

Another interesting part of the exhibit is the Shadows of War performances, inspired by the book The Lopez Letters, and unveiling the story of the Lopez Family during the war. Shadows of War is produced by San Francisco’s Bindlestiff Studio and will feature Filipino-American actors and live music and will have performances from 7 to 8pm for four Thursdays – November 6, December 4, January 8 and February 5.  

He also emphasized the reality that majority of the US do not know what happened, especially the younger generation, which is why the Presidio is working with high school history teachers.  The important information carried by the exhibit will be available on the Presidio’s website even after its run.