Day 78: Philippine Village, St. Louis, Missouri
📌APIA Every Day (78) - Philippine Village, located in Missouri, spanned 40 acres and served as a human exhibit, displaying around 1200 Filipinos and Indigenous peoples during the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis. This abhorrent attraction featured various indigenous tribes, including Igorots, Moros, Bagobos, Aetas, Mangyans, Visayans, and Tagalogs, alongside 700 Filipino soldiers as exotic commodities. This human zoo was labeled an "ethnographic exhibition" by fair organizers, presenting segregated tribes in structures replicating the Philippines. Filipino workers constructed these displays, observed by white patrons who paid 25 cents to witness the "primitive" civilization in its supposedly "natural state." The fair primarily functioned as propaganda to secure American support for the colonization of the Philippines, a territory acquired by the U.S. in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. The portrayal of Filipinos as "primitive" and unfit for self-rule aimed to justify the U.S. takeover for "their own good." Due to harsh conditions and unfamiliarity with the cold Midwestern weather, many Filipinos, including teenagers, died from pneumonia, turning their suffering into part of the spectacle.
For the past decade, artist and researcher Janna Añonuevo Langholz has spearheaded efforts in preserving the histories of those Filipinos and Indigenous peoples. Using newspaper archives and burial records, she documented the lives of nearly 200 Philippine Village residents, addressing the long-neglected history in St. Louis. Langholz located the unmarked graves of five individuals in Calvary Cemetery and emphasizes the exploitation and lack of recognition for this historical site, advocating for a permanent memorial. Additionally, she uncovered the disturbing case of Maura, whose body may have been donated for anthropological research after being displayed at the fair.
Langholz now conducts guided walks at the former 40-acre Philippine Village site, including the Demun and Wydown neighborhoods in Clayton, near Forest Park, MO. She carries with her the "Philippine Village Historical Site" sign as a living monument that holds space for respectful engagement with the aftermath of the 1904 World’s Fair and the accurate telling of history with the perspectives of Filipinos and Indigenous people at the forefront.
LEARN MORE:
River Front Times: The World’s Fair and the Lose Dead of St. Louis’ Human Zoo
Philippine Village Historical Site: A Brief History of the Philippine Village
NPR: ‘Living Exhibits’ at 1904 World’s Fair Revisited
Stlpr NPR: 1904 World’s Fair Reives: One Artist Memorializes Filipino and Indigenous People
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