Historic Property Inventory of Japanese, Filipino and Indipino Agricultural Properties on Bainbridge Island, Washington

Rittergrup, LLC; Montgomery, Marcia; McNett, James

Introduction: "In 2014, the City of Bainbridge Island received grant funds from the Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation’s (DAHP) Certified Local Government (CLG) program to conduct an inventory of agricultural properties on Bainbridge Island. The project included the preparation of this report describing inventory methods and results and the development an interpretive exhibit. The Bainbridge Island Historical Museum (BIHM) will prepare the exhibit based on information in the report. The purpose of the study is to provide the City, DAHP and property owners of inventoried resources with information to help make informed decisions about the management of historic resources. In February 2014, the City contracted with James McNett and Marcia Montgomery of Rittergrup to prepare this historic property inventory for agricultural properties associated with the Japanese, Filipino and First Nations farmers from British Columbia. The history of these three groups was economically and socially intertwined through berry farming that occurred before World War II and slowly declined after the war. Japanese farmers began growing strawberries on Bainbridge Island in 1908 and came to rely on First Nations people to seasonally harvest the crop. By the late 1920s, the growth of berry farming outpaced available Indian labor and farmers started hiring Filipinos seasonally. During World War II, when Japanese families were interned, Filipinos familiar with the Japanese farms and agricultural practices often helped care for the Japanese properties until the war ended. Many marriages occurred between Filipino men and First Nations women. Families of this mixed heritage are often referred to as “Indipinos,” a term used in this report. Though people of other ethnicities participated in local berry farming, this study focuses on these groups. An initial list of inventoried properties was developed based on collaboration with the HPC and BIHM. Rittergrup further refined the list of properties for inventory through interviews with informants of Japanese, Filipino and Indipino heritage. This project resulted in the preparation of 39 inventory forms associated with 21 different family farms. Copies of the completed Washington State Historic Property Inventory Forms are included in Appendix A. For general reference, Appendix B includes two maps showing the historical locations of Japanese and Filipino/Indipino berry fields on Bainbridge Island. These maps are the result of volunteer efforts conducted by BIHM’s Vivian Hwang, who gathered information for the Japanese map and Pinky Madayag who prepared the Filipino/Indipino map from his own personal knowledge. Though the locations are approximations, the maps provide a quick visual reference of the number of Bainbridge Island farms associated with these ethnic groups." Project funding was provided in part by a 2014 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Bainbridge Island (project number WA-14-001) administered by the Washington State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P14AF00053) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Bainbridge Island, Washington is a Certified Local Government.

Historic Property Inventory of Japanese, Filipino and Indipino Agricultural Properties on Bainbridge Island, Washington

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