Historic Filipino American Gathering Places in Seattle

Join us as we dive into the rich history of Seattle’s Filipino American community with Dorothy Cordova, Pio DeCano II, and Cynthia Mejia-Giudici. In partnership with the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS), this virtual presentation will explore key sites and locations in Seattle/King County, weaving together nearly 100 years of place, history, and culture in our region.

Thank you to Cynthia Mejia-Giudici for making this event possible! Historic Seattle values and celebrates Cynthia’s strong leadership, research & contributions, and committed partnership.

Dorothy Laigo Cordova is the Founder and Executive Director of the nationwide organization FANHS, which she and her late husband, Fred, founded in 1982. Before founding FAHNS, they founded and directed the Filipino Youth Activities (FYA), which became a vital force for organizing demonstrations in the 1960s and 1970s. Dorothy also served as Director for the Demonstration Project for Asian Americans (DPAA), which conducted a wide variety of studies on Asian Americans’ problems in the 1970s. A Seattle native and lifelong Central District resident, Dorothy is a decorated and celebrated activist, historian, and archivist.

Pio DeCano II, Ph.D., has an extensive educational and professional background as a teacher, administrator, consultant, community activist/volunteer. He directed a four-state (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho) bilingual technical assistance center that provided services to Title VII school districts in those states. He was the former director of a multi-cultural teacher training institute at Central Washington University, providing historical and cultural curriculum materials to educators, and offered similar services as a Bilingual Program administrator to the Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He currently serves as a trustee for the FANHS, providing technical assistance to local Filipino-American communities in the Pacific Northwest to establish local FANHS chapters.

Cynthia Mejia-Giudici is a retired Seattle Public Schools teacher and sign language interpreter. She has taught in Japan and Washington, D.C., and served as a trustee and a former Seattle Chapter president of FANHS. She is the co-editor of The Filipinos in America, 1898-1974 (1976) and is a contributing author of Filipino American history for HistoryLink.org.