(Today’s Bridge Generation – now in their 70s, 80s, and 90s – are a rapidly declining population. Over the years, most members of these American born children of the first wave of Filipino immigrants have passed away. To remember their contributions to the history of Filipinos in America, a deceased BG individual is a recurring feature of this blog. This month features Victoria “Vicki” (Manalo) Draves, December 31, 1924-April 10, 2010, two-time diving champion in the 1948 Olympics.)
The 1948 London Summer Olympics was an unforgettable two weeks for me. I had just enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was undergoing boot camp training in San Diego. Lonely from being away from home and confined to the Naval Training Center, two Olympic champions helped alleviate my loneliness. First, was Bob Mathias’ win in the grueling decathlon. Mathias, also a country boy from California’s Central Valley, grew up in the small town of Tulare — similar in many ways to my Livingston home town, 80 miles to the north. Secondly and most significant, Filipina American Vicki (Manalo) Draves. She made Olympic history by winning gold medals in both the 10-meter platform and the 3-meter springboard diving — the first Filipina/o American, the first Asian American woman, and the first American woman to win two Olympic gold medals in diving. I related with them, especially Vicki whose growing up years were similar to those of Bridge Generation youth.
Victoria “Vicki” Manalo and her twin sister, Consuelo “Connie” Manalo, were born in San Francisco, California on December 31, 1924 to immigrants Teofilo Manalo, a Filipino chef, and Gertrude Taylor, a hotel maid from England. Like other Bridge Generation youth growing up during the Great Depression, life was not easy for the twins — especially living in the city. However, when Vicki was ten years of age, she was able to take swimming lessons at a Mission District pool for the admission price of five cents that she religiously saved. During the 1940s, San Francisco public pools had a “Whites Only” policy — except for one day a month when persons of color were allowed to swim. (The pools were then immediately drained and cleaned to be hygienically acceptable for incoming white swimmers!)
Vicki (Manalo) Draves [center]By 1940 Vicki had developed into an outstanding swimmer. She turned her attention to diving and was introduced to Phil Patterson, swimming coach of the exclusive Swimming and Diving Club at the posh Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill. The hotel also had a “Whites Only” policy for the club. To erase any reference to her Filipino ancestry, Patterson declared Vicki’s surname must be changed to Taylor (her mother’s maiden name) to be accepted. Additionally, he created a “special club” he dubbed the “Patterson School of Swimming and Diving” where she would be training alone. With reluctance, Vicki and her mother ultimately accepted Patterson’s discriminatory conditions. Years later, in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, she said coach Patterson, “….was a prejudiced man. It wasn’t special for me. It was his way of separating me from the others.”
Vicki’s views on her disparate treatment were shaped by anti-miscegenation laws that were then prevalent and by resultant acts of discrimination committed upon the mixed-race marriage of her parents. Her views were also influenced by the experiences of her English aunt — also married to a Filipino. Her aunt repeatedly refused to cave in to anti-miscegenation pressure to divorce her husband. She subsequently died in an elevator “accident.” According to a longtime family friend, “I think that changed the dynamics of Vicki’s childhood. From then on she was taught to look down and avoid the glares of other people.”
Jimmy Hughes of the Crystal Plunge became Vicki’s next coach and guided her to a third-place finish in her first national Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) diving competition at the Indiana national meet in 1943. In 1944, she joined Lyle Draves, who ran the prestigious Athens Athletic Club across the bay in Oakland. Training under the watchful eye of Coach Draves, who she married in 1946, paid dividends as Vicki greatly improved upon her diving. She won five AAU national diving championships before winning the three-meter springboard and ten-meter platform gold medals gold medals at the 1948 London Olympics. The London Olympics was also when she reclaimed her maiden name. No longer was she “Vicki Taylor” — she was now the proud “Vicki Manalo Draves!” After her Olympic victories, she and Lyle were invited to visit the Philippines where she gave platform diving exhibitions at Rizal Stadium before thousands of Filipinos and Philippine President Elpidio Quirino.
Vicki turned professional and joined Aqua Parade, a popular traveling water extravaganza show that had her performing across the United States, Canada, and Europe. She and Lyle subsequently settled down to operate a swimming and diving training center in Southern California. In the mid-1960s, she helped establish the Filipino Education Center in the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood of San Francisco — the home of many Filipino immigrants and where she grew up. At the 1994 Filipino American National Historical Society National Conference, Vicki earned the VIP (Very Important Pinoy/Pinay) Gold Award for outstanding lifetime achievement in athletics. She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1969. In 2005, she was selected as Most Outstanding Alumnus of City College of San Francisco. And in October 2006, two acres in SoMa was named “Victoria Manalo Draves Park.” Fittingly, the park is located four blocks from where she was born and raised. The crowd estimated at 500 that attended the park’s dedication included many SoMa residents and Filipina/o well-wishers from her youth.
On April 10, 2010 Vicki died at the age of 85, from pancreatic cancer in Palm Springs CA. Perhaps Vicki was always destined for success. In many languages, Victoria means “victory.” In Tagalog, a major language in the Philippines, the word manalo means “win.” Rest in Peace, Vicki! (Grateful acknowledgements to: Positively Filipino magazine, Asian Week, FANHS, Wikipedia, Vicki’s BG contemporaries, and for the photo, to the L.A. Times.)
This and That:
Narce Caliva, a member of the Board of Directors, National Korean War Veterans Association, was one of eight Korean War veterans representing all who served during the Korean War. The event was a celebration of the annual National Memorial Day Concert on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol. Salinas CA readers will remember Narce as an active member of the local Filipino Catholic Youth Club, serving as its treasurer in 1948.
Happy August Birthdays:
Terry (Cataab) Bautista, Vangie Canonizado) Buell, Beverley (Cabalar) DeToro, Richard Gacer, Herb Jamero, Mike Nisperos, Tony Ogilvie, Aurie (Omania) Kearns, Nemisio Paredes, Roni (Roslinda) Calibjo
Pinakbet — News Across America
Filipino American Historical Tidbits:
Under the 1935 Repatriation Act, in response to anti-Filipino sentiment, Filipinos in the United States would receive free passage back to the Philippines provided they forgo the right to return. However, of approximately 45,000 Filipinos, only 2,290 chose to return to the Philippines.
Did You Know:
Allisen Corpus, 25, of Honolulu HI won the 56th U.S. Women’s Open in Pebble Beach CA on July 9. Of Filipino Korean parentage, she is the first Filipina American and the first American since 2016 to win the golf tournament………… Dual-citizen Bianca Bustamante, 18, became the first pinay to win the new all-female Formula 1 Academy car race with her May victory in Valencia, Spain. Congratulations to these two young champions!
Musings
From White Supremacy in America, (to) It has Always been about People of Color, (to) Equitable Justice for People of Color, (to) Multi-racial Democracy Weakened, (to) Political/Gun Violence) Part XXXVII:
Last month’s blog decried the growth of gun violence — especially mass shootings, which continues unabated. At this writing, mass shootings are spiking at a record pace. During the July 4 holiday period alone, 17 mass shootings were committed in such cities as Baltimore, Philadelphia, Wichita, Ft. Worth, Washington DC, and Chicago as well as in other American communities.
With double the number of gun owners per capita than the next highest country, the U.S. is the world’s leader. America’s massive number of gun owners suggests, “Where there are more guns, there are more mass shootings.” According to data from the non-profit “Gun Violence Archive” mass shootings killed 605 persons in 2020, a record 686 in 2021, and 636 in 2022. As of this writing, 423 deaths from mass shootings have been reported for 2023. America is now on pace to set a new record for deaths from mass shootings.
The Biden White House has issued several Executive Orders to quell gun violence. A few states have enacted gun control legislation. However, Executive Orders are only in effect while the issuing president is in office while state gun control laws have been enacted in too few states to effectively address the issue on a national scale.
Mass shootings are a national tragedy that only Congress can resolve. For decades, common sense legislation, such as background checks have been proposed but never enacted. (One exception — Congress passed a ban on AR-15 assault weapons in 1994. However, the law was allowed to sunset.) Today, despite Americans’ overwhelming support of common sense legislation, Congress has yet to enact permanent legislation to quell gun violence. (Next: Why Congress has been unable to pass permanent common sense gun legislation?)
