Chris Fujimoto Collection

Donor Information: Chris Fujimoto was a part of Kearny Street Workshop (KSW). He was interested in getting political by engaging the local. He met Al Robles and knew him as a go between with the manongs. Al inspired him to be more community based. Al took Fujimoto around to the hotels, to keep the history alive. KSW focused on documenting Chinese/Asian America to breakdown stereotypes.

Fujimoto shot his photography in 1971, influenced by the social documentary style of Jim Dong, Bob Hsiang, Leland Wong and Chris Huie.

After the I-Hotel eviction, Fujimoto stopped his photography and became an electrician. But, he went back to photography in the 1980s.

Scope and Content of Collection: This collection is composed of images pre-eviction, eviction and post-eviction. Images include rallies front of the International Hotel, some with Wahat Tampao one of manongs of Manilatown, marches through Chinatown, fundraising events, the party before the closing of the St. Paul Hotel, party before the closing of the Luck “M” Pool Hall, and Al Robles with Manong Ted Daluyot at St. Paul Hotel. There are also in front of the demonstrators locked arm-in-arm and six layers deep in front of the Kearny Street Workshop. In addition, there are solo portraits of Manilatown's Manongs.

IH-044 There's a picture of an angry man. His name is Yip Man. He was a tenant of the I-Hotel and vocal against the eviction. He helped to organize rallies, and was also a speaker at City Hall. He was there at the purchase of the I-Hotel by the city, when the I-Hotel was declared a historical monument, and when Four Seas was suing International Hotel Tenant's Association.

There are also pictures of the Red Guard. In front of the old I-Hotel, there were storefront shops, like Everybody's Bookstore, and the Asian American Community Center. The Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) also had a presence in this area. CPA was a Socialist Progressive Group that had Maoist leanings. Chinese Americans had a transnational consciousness of what was happening in China. In the 1980s, Den Xioping was the head of China. The news was pro Den Xioping. But many in the CPA were critical of Den Xioping because of his acquiescence to capitalism.

Some of San Francisco Chinatown's Chinese American born youth were part of "gangs." There were the Bai Chings versus the Joes. They would hang out at soda fountain shops like Leways, where hot rods would run their engines. Many of these gangs would try to recruit the younger kids. But people like Steve Dung wanted to give the youth something different. KSW was one place where youth got involved in radical, community politics.

In the set, there is a photo of a charismatic Chinese American, whose name is Alex. He was part of the Red Guard. The Red Guard was a radical Chinese American street youth organization. Alex had "mao mao," an eloquent voice that could capture the attention of people.

View this set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/manilatown/sets/72157607366098961/

IH-045 These are portraits of Al Robles with Ted Daluyot at St. Paul Hotel during the mid 1970s. Ted was taking a lot of medication. Al was like a social worker, asking about his family. Ted was a lonely guy. Tony Remington also took pictures of Ted.

View this set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/manilatown/sets/72157607362907182/

IH-046 are photos during the closing of Lucky "M" Pool Hall. The event was a potluck with taxi dancing of the 1920s. Back in the day, manongs would frequent the taxi dances to meet women and be entertained. In this set of photos, the Lucky "M" Pool Hall was shutting down because the rent was increasing.

View this set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/manilatown/sets/72157607366443893/

IH-047 includes images from inside the Lucky "M" Pool Hall. Lucky M Pool Hall/barbershop were "anything happened." Lucky M stood for Margaret Moyko, who was the wife of Manong Mile. Inside the pool hall were benches. It was a center for the manongs. In order to celebrate their claim of the pool hall, they had a squid adobo buffet.

Manongs playing pool and Manongs sitting on benches along the wall looking on at the players. The room is a bit smoky. Manongs dressed in jackets (suit, work, or plaid flannel), trousers, shiny street shoes and most are sporting brim hats. You can see that there were at least three pool tables and a set of pinball machines. Al Robles is seen playing pinball.

View this set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/manilatown/sets/72157607366444013/

IH 048 These are photos from the day after the nighttime police raid on the I-Hotel and the eviction. The tenants had to sign in to prove they were a tenant. Social workers were there to help tenants to get stuff. It took tenants a whole week to get back their things. The IHTA had to arrange buses to take tenants to different hotels in SOMA.

View this set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/manilatown/sets/72157607492335232/

IH 049 These are mixed photos of I-Hotel and Manilatown folks. There are people like Gordon Chin, who advocated for low-cost housing for senior citizens at the I-Hotel. He is currently working for Chinatown Community Development Corporation. There are also photos of Bill and Pam of the Asian American Community Center doing their human barricade demonstration practices. There are also photos of Manong Benny Gallo, who was a tenant of the I-Hotel.

View this set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/manilatown/sets/72157607366694909/

IH 050 These are pictures of a rally. People like Pete Yamamoto, Estella Habal, Benny Gallo, Wahat Tampao, Doug Yamamoto, Lou Syquia, as well as activists from Chinese Progressive Association and Everybody's Bookstore are in these photos.

There are pictures of people doing a human barricade formations by locking arms.This was after the tenants received eviction notices. A bulldozer came by and the tenants and young students utilized a phonetree warning system. The Chinese Progressive Association and the Asian American Center called everybody out to encircle the building.

View this set here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/manilatown/sets/72157607496119565/