SOUTH OF MARKET COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK -- At 46 years of age, Dawn Mabalon documented the rich Filipino-American history in California through her work as a professor and the many articles and books she published, especially Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California (Duke University Press, 2013), Filipinos in Stockton (Arcadia Publishing, 2008) and Filipinos in San Francisco (Arcadia Publishing, 2011).
Mabalon’s work is rooted in a decolonial perspective of the relationship between the U.S. empire and the Philippines as colonial subject, and in Filipino-American and Asian-American history, with a special interest in diasporic foodways. Her writing and works have strongly shaped and influenced Asian-American studies and activism in the United States. Her many awards include the President’s Award for Excellence in Historic Preservation (with the Little Manila Foundation), California Preservation Foundation, San Francisco State University Presidential Professional Development Award and the Ford Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship for Excellence in College and University Teaching, among others.