Augustina Villa
Kalihi: Place of Transition
This project features life history interviews with present and former longtime residents of Kalihi, a multi-ethnic working-class district located west of downtown Honolulu, which has a long history as a home of island immigrants.
Agustina (Abaya) Villa, Ilocano, was born in Dingras, !locos Norte, Philippines on August 28, 1893 . The fifth of six children, Agustina helped support the family by taking in laundry from the people of her barrio. She also sewed clothing. Agustina married Antonio Villa in 1913 . In 1924, Antonio left for Hawaii to find work in the sugarcane fields. He was assigned to Lahaina, Maui. Agustina remained in the Philippines and continued sewing and laundering until 1931, when she and two of her children joined Antonio in Lahaina . In the cane fields, Antonio was paid one dollar a day; Agustina, seventy-five cents. In 1943, the family moved from Lahaina, Maui to Kakaako, Oahu. Agustina and Antonio both found jobs at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. Agustina worked in a chemical laboratory, washing bottles and cleaning tables for thirty cents an hour. In 1946, they bought a home in Kalihi Kai and have lived there ever since. Today, they own an apartment building on their property. Agustina participates in senior citizens' activities daily. The couple has five children.
Scope and Content Note
A retired government worker answers questions about Filipino lifestyle and customs.
Program Note:
This interview is part of the Center for Oral History's project Kalihi: Place of Transition. Interviews from this project are available in the Center's ScholarSpace open access repository.
The Center for Oral History (COH), in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, collects, documents, preserves and highlights the recollections of Native Hawaiians and the multi-ethnic people of Hawaiʻi. It produces oral histories and interpretive historical materials about lifeways, key historic events, social movements and Hawaiʻi’s role in the globalizing world, for the widest possible use.
Please Note: The oral histories in this collection are protected by copyright and have been created for educational, research and personal use as described by the Fair Use Doctrine in the U.S. Copyright law. Please reach out Voices@noaa.gov to let us know how these interviews are being used in your research, project, exhibit, etc. The Voices staff can help provide other useful resources related to your inquiry.
The NOAA mission is to understand and predict changes in climate, weather, oceans, and coasts, to share that knowledge and information with others, and to conserve and manage coastal and marine ecosystems and resources. The Voices Oral History Archives offers public access to a wide range of accounts, including historical materials that are products of their particular times, and may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes.
Voices Oral History Archives does not verify the accuracy of materials submitted to us. The opinions expressed in the interviews are those of the interviewee only. The interviews here have been made available to the public only after the interviewer has confirmed that they have obtained consent.