The Treaty of Paris marked a significant shift in the territorial landscape, with Guam and the Philippines being ceded and sold to the United States, while the Northern Marianas found new ownership under Germany. This finalized the division of the Marianas into Guam and the Northern Marianas.
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In Washington D.C., the union of art and politics is palpable. Its architecture and sculpture command admiration, while its pathways blur cultural boundaries and its public spaces echo the ideals of democracy.
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A trip to Mayport village was often a revelatory experience. From dining at Safe Harbor or Singletons, a walk in the neighborhood, and taking photographs of pelicans, Mayport did not disappoint.
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A dentist who served on the USS Whidbey in 1949 returned to Saipan after 65 years, on a history cruise ship Crystal Serenity.
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Who would have thought that the Baguio internment camp's Japanese commandant was a saviour in disguise. Those he saved in turn shielded him from post-war prosecution.
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Serendipity led me to finding digital files of Robert Benney's sketches that he did while he served on Saipan 80 years ago.
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Covering the CNMI Retirement Fund's Chapter 11 bankruptcy attempt proved a rollercoaster of legal battles. Despite fervent arguments, Judge Robert J. Faris's dismissal left no victors, labeling the treatment "shameful."
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An archaeological expedition in Lower Base uncovers remarkable Japanese constructions predating the 1944 invasion. Renowned preservationist David G. DeFant lauds their engineering excellence at the Marianas History Conference. Despite challenges in discerning origins, discoveries shed light on Micronesia's complex history. DeFant urges preservation of these structures, hinting at their tourism potential.
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Bernice Museum field staffer and amateur archaeologist Hans Hornbostel had been traveling in the Marianas collecting specimens. In one of his trips to Tinian, he asked his Carolinian guide to get him "omang" that led to a hilarious miscommunication.
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Inspired by Paul Gaugain, Paul Jacoulet travelled to Micronesia in pursuit of his muse, and ended up immortalizing scores of Pacific Islanders.
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Korea's King Sejong left a lasting legacy: Hangul. His revolutionary alphabet system democratized literacy, making learning within reach of the social classes other than the nobility.
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A serendipitous finding of a 1909 postcard tucked in an old book led a reporter to locating the photo's subject and found to her amazement and amusement that the treaty oak was still standing.
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There's more to this monument than meets the eye. This collaborative masterpiece in the heart of Washington Square Park was made from Tuckahoe marbles, same ones used to resurrect federal buildings destroyed during the War of 1812.
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For two consecutive censuses, there were more Filipinos than local residents in the Northern Mariana Islands.
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Historian Don Farrell delved into the complexities of reunification of the Marianas citing as sticking point both Guam’s and Northern Marianas’s status as “unincorporated territories.” However, Farrell emphasized that the Northern Marianas has taken a step forward by establishing a mutually agreed-upon political status with the United States, a move beyond Guam’s unilateral action through the Organic Act.
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An heirloom spoon from the Cordilleras not only commands a high price in the market but it touts a glorious past of the Ifugaos renowned for their resilience and their rich cultural traditions.
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Four prominent internees of Santo Tomas Internment Camp were incarcerated, transferred out of camp, and later were found dead in a ditch at Harrison Park in Manila.
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Women were asked to knit pairs of socks and little did they know they were making them for WWII guerrillas. 32 pairs of socks for 32 men serving the guerrilla movement against the Japanese.
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As Princess Taiping embarked on its transpacific crossing, it carried with it the hopes of a historic voyage. However, its journey was cut short by the unexpected encounter with a freighter near its destination, marking the end of a remarkable endeavor.
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As I embarked on my journey from Queens to Manhattan, thoughts of the Gilded Age swirled in my mind: Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, Rockefeller, Carnegie—names echoing through time with the weight of history.
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Ten chiefs of Borneo fled the despotic rule of Raja Makatunao and resettled on the island of Panay in pre-Hispanic central Philippines, later spreading to other parts of the archipelago.
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Growing up in the Philippines, I neither heard of nor read about Josephina “Joey” Guerrero until Ben Montgomery published his book, “The Leper Spy.”
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In the spirited quest to recreate Mom's cooking, there's delight in improvising with French cuisine to bridge the gaps.
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Travel back in time at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City and be fascinated by an assemblage of shogunate period artifacts, most especially, swords and armors.
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Death, they say, arrives in threes. Call it superstition if you will, but it certainly felt true for me as I bid farewell to three significant women in my life, one after the other, with mere months between each loss.
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Gregoria de Jesus, revered as the "mother of the Philippine revolution," transcends the archetype of a muse, embodying the resilience and fortitude of a nation in the pursuit of freedom.
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Some 6000 Chinese-Japanese pirates led by Limahong attempted to wrestle control of Manila from the Spaniards who had to beef up their defenses to quell the staunch confederacy of pirates.
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Since fifth grade, Ethel "Sally" Blaine Millett, a Missouri native and an Army nurse, had been longing for the Philippines. Fate seemed to be on her side when she finally got the chance in 1939 after completing her nursing training in San Diego and joining the US Army at Letterman General Hospital.
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In the midst of chaos in war-ravaged Manila, US Navy nurse Laura Cobb served as anchor of her fellow Navy nurses as they responded to emergencies in the aftermath of the Japanese bombings of the city. Subsequently, left behind in the mad rush to retreat, Cobb kept her team of Navy nurses together as they went from one makeshift hospital to another until they ended up in internment camps of Santo Tomas and Los Banos.
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In the midst of wartime tumult, Lt. Col. Madeline "Madge" Ullom, part of the courageous cadre of nurses known as the Angels of Bataan, reflected on the unexpected roles thrust upon them.
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Entombed in a glass casing was a cabasset, perhaps belonging to a set of armor of a sentinel, caught my attention as I was winding my way inside the museum in Cumberland Park. I read cabassets were usually worn by Italians, and not by Spanish guards who had set up a garrison on Cumberland island centuries earlier. But the answers to my questions continued to tantalize me for I am not a trained archaeologist nor a historian. Bereft for answers, I left the museum with a consolation: a snapshot of this helmet with the promise of discovery of the helmet's provenance sometime in the future.
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