Filipino American History Month

The Philippines is the only country in Asia to have been fully colonized by the United States until it regained its independence in 1946. In the early 1900s, the U.S. set up nursing schools in the Philippines that taught American curriculum. Many Filipino nurses came to the U.S. after the creation of the Exchange Visitor Program in 1948; the program allowed professionals to come to the U.S. for two years. Then, in 1965, the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed, which allowed a larger number of immigrants from around the world to come to the U.S. There was a critical shortage of nurses following WWII and U.S. hospitals started advertising for Filipino nurses. Since the 1960s, there have been over 150,000 nurses who have migrated to the U.S. And today, it’s not solely Filipino immigrants who are nurses, but also multiple generations of U.S. born Filipino Americans who are also nurses. While training Filipinos in American nursing began as a way to spread American culture to the Philippines, it has also brought Filipino culture to the U.S.