Carlos Sampayan Bulosan was a Filipino novelist, poet, and labor organizer who immigrated to the United

States in 1930 1. He is best known for his semi-autobiographical novel, “America Is in the Heart” 12. The
novel depicts the struggles of Filipino immigrants in America during the 1930s and 1940s. Bulosan’s writing
is celebrated for giving a post-colonial, Asian immigrant perspective to the labor movement in America
12. He was also an active labor union organizer along the Pacific coast of the United States 1.
Bulosan’s work has been influential in Filipino American literature and has inspired many writers and
activists. His unpublished writings were discovered in a library at the University of Washington in the
1970s, leading to posthumous releases of several unfinished works and anthologies of his poetry 1

Carlos Sampayan Bulosan (November 24, 1913[1] – September 11, 1956) was a Filipino novelist and poet
who immigrated to the United States on July 1, 1930.[2] He never returned to the Philippines and he spent
most of his life in the United States. His best-known work today is the semi-autobiographical America Is in
the Heart, but he first gained fame for his 1943 essay on The Freedom from Want.

Early life and immigration[edit]

Bulosan was born to Ilocano parents in the Philippines in Binalonan, Pangasinan. There is considerable
debate around his actual birth date, as he himself used several dates. 1911 is generally considered to be the
most reliable answer, based on his baptismal records, but according to the Lorenzo Duyanen Sampayan, his
childhood playmate and nephew, Bulosan was born on November 2, 1913. Most of his youth was spent in
the countryside as a farmer. It is during his youth that he and his family were economically impoverished by
the rich and political elite, which would become one of the main themes of his writing. His home town is
also the starting point of his semi-autobiographical novel, America is in the Heart.
Following the pattern of many Filipinos during the American colonial period, he left for America on July 22,
1930, at age 17, in the hope of finding salvation from the economic depression of his home. He never again
saw his Philippine homeland. Upon arriving in Seattle, he was met with racism and was forced to work low
paying jobs. He worked as a farmworker, harvesting grapes and asparagus, while also working other forms
of hard labor in the fields of California. He also worked as a dishwasher with his brother Lorenzo in the
famous Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo which opened in 1958 or almost three years after Bulosan had
died.
In 1936, Bulosan suffered from tuberculosis and was taken to the Los Angeles County Hospital. There, he
underwent three operations and stayed two years, mostly in the convalescent ward. During his long stay in
the hospital, Bulosan spent his time constantly reading and writing.[2]

Labor movement work[edit]

Bulosan was active in labor movement along the Pacific coast of the United States and edited the 1952
Yearbook for International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 37, a predominantly Filipino
American cannery trade union based in Seattle.

Writing[edit]
There is some controversy surrounding the accuracy of events recorded within America Is in the Heart. He
is celebrated for giving a post-colonial, Asian immigrant perspective to the labor movement in America and
for telling the experience of Filipinos working in the U.S. during the 1930s and '40s. In the 1970s, with a
resurgence in Asian/Pacific Islander American activism, his unpublished writings were discovered in a
library in the University of Washington leading to posthumous releases of several unfinished works and
anthologies of his poetry.
His other novels include The Laughter of My Father, which were originally published as short sketches, and
the posthumously published The Cry and the Dedication which detailed the Hukbalahap Rebellion in the
Philippines.
One of his most famous essays, published in March 1943, was chosen by The Saturday Evening Post to
accompany its publication of the Norman Rockwell painting Freedom from Want, part of a series based
on Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech.[3] Maxim Lieber was his literary agent in 1944.

Death and legacy[edit]

Historical marker in honor of Bulosan in Binalonan, Pangasinan

As a labor organizer and socialist writer, he was blacklisted during the Second Red Scare of the 1950s.
Denied a means to provide for himself, his later years were of illness, hardship, and alcoholism.[4] He died
in Seattle suffering from malnutrition[2] and an advanced stage of bronchopneumonia. He is buried
at Mount Pleasant Cemetery on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle.
Upon his death, union leader Chris Mensalvas, wrote the following obituary: "Carlos Bulosan, 30 years old
(sic), died 11 September1956, Seattle. Birthplace: Philippines, Address: Unknown; Occupation: Writer;
Hobby: Famous for his jungle salad served during Foreign-Born Committee dinners. Estate: One typewriter,
a twenty-year old suit, unfinished manuscripts, worn out sock; Finances: Zero. Beneficiary: His people."[2]
His works did not immediately garner widespread appreciation. For two decades after his death, his work
was largely forgotten,[2] until a group of young Asian Americans rediscovered his works and led to the
republication of America is in the Heart in 1973.[2]
Bulosan's works and legacy is heralded in a permanent exhibition, "The Carlos Bulosan Memorial Exhibit,"
at the Eastern Hotel in Seattle's International District. Its centerpiece mural is titled "Secrets of
History"[5] and was created by Eliseo Art Silva.[6]
In 2018, the Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies Initiative was established at the University of California,
Davis to carry on his legacy of activism through research and advocacy of the Filipino and Filipino-
American community. The initiative backs the creation of a physical Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies to
support research, education and advocacy. The center aims to continue Bulosan's legacy by uplifting the
voices of the most marginalized in the Filipino community in the United States and the diaspora
through community-engaged research and broadly disseminating knowledge about Filipinos for the purpose
of advancing their rights and welfare.[7]

Works[edit]

 Letter from America (The Press of James A. Decker, 1942)[8]

 America Is in the Heart (1946)[9]
 The Laughter of My Father (1944)[10]
 The Cry and the Dedication (1995)[11]
 My Father's Tragedy
 The Romance of Magno Rubio
 If You Want To Know What We Are
 My Father goes to Court

References[edit]
1. ^ There is disagreement over the date of his birth, as his baptismal papers list it as November 2,
1911; see Zhang, Aiping (2003). Huang, Guiyou (ed.). Asian American Short Story Writers: An A-to-
Z Guide. Greenwood. p. 23. ISBN 9780313322297. Retrieved September 15, 2014. Some sources say
1914; for a list of references on this problem, see San Juan, Jr, E. "Carlos Bulosan: Critique and
Revolution". Balikbayang Sinta: An E. San Juan Reader. Ateneo de Manila University Press and
Flipside Publishing. ISBN 9789719951551. Retrieved September 15, 2014.
2. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Zia, Helen; Gall, Susan B., eds. (1995). Notable Asian Americans (1st ed.). New
York City: Gale Research. ISBN 0810396238. OCLC 31170596.
3. ^ Vials, Chris (2009). Realism for the Masses: Aesthetics, Popular Front Pluralism, and U.S.
Culture, 1935–1947. Jackson, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-60473-
349-5.
4. ^ Weltzien, O. Alan (Winter 2013–2014). "Carlos Bulosan and the Northwest". The Pacific
Northwest Quarterly. 105 (1): 12–22.
5. ^ Mack, Kathy. "Carlos Bulosan Mural". Pink Chalk Studio-Flickr.
6. ^ Magalong, Michelle. "My HiFi.Day 16 of #FAHM: Read Carlos Bulosan". myhifi.tumblr.com.
Archived from the original on June 23, 2015. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
7. ^ "Bulosan Center for Filipino Studies". Asian American Studies Department, UC Davis.
Retrieved January 5, 2020.
8. ^ "Archives – Decker Press Bibliography – Western Illinois University". wiu.edu. Retrieved February
4, 2021.
9. ^ Juan, E. San (2008). "Carlos Bulosan, Filipino Writer-Activist: Between a Time of Terror and the
Time of Revolution". CR: The New Centennial Review. 8 (1): 103–
134. doi:10.1353/ncr.0.0020. ISSN 1532-687X. JSTOR 41949583. S2CID 143957128.
10. ^ Tolentino, Delfin L. (Fourth Quarter 1986). "Satire in Carlos Bulosan's "The Laughter of my
Father"". Philippine Studies. Manila, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University. 34 (4): 452–
461. ISSN 0031-7837. JSTOR 42632966.
11. ^ Guyotte, Roland L.; San Juan, E. (1997). Bulosan, Carlos; Le Espiritu, Yen (eds.). "Generation
Gap: Filipinos, Filipino Americans and Americans, Here and There, Then and Now". Journal of
American Ethnic History. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois. 17 (1): 64–70. ISSN 0278-
5927. JSTOR 27502239.

Sources[edit]

 "Bulosan's Laughter: The Making of Carlos Bulosan" *Bulosan Exhibit

 Hounded to Death: the FBI File of Filipino Author Carlos Bulosan
 Carlos Bulosan Theatre
 "Filipino American Hip-Hop: Renewing the Spirit of Carlos Bulosan"
 See 2014 Edition (Univ. of Washington Press) of his "America Is In the Heart" as its two
Introductions,'For Further Reading' and 'Works Cited' are quite extensive.

Further reading[edit]

 Carlos Bulosan Papers, 1914-1976. 4.65 cubic feet, 17 microfilm reels. At the Labor Archives of
Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.
 Aurelio Bulosan Papers. 1949–1974. .18 cubic feet (1 box). Contains records by Aurelio Bulosan
regarding his brother, Carlos Bulosan. At the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington
Libraries Special Collections.
 Mary Gibson Papers. 1903–1964. 1 box and 1 vertical file including 2 sound cassettes. Contains a
photograph of Carlos Bulosan. At the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington
Libraries Special Collections.
 Seiwoong Oh: Encyclopedia of Asian-American Literature. Series: Encyclopedia of American Ethnic
Literature. Facts on File, 2007
 To, Sydney Van (Spring 2023). "The geopolitics of passing in Carlos Bulosan's All the
conspirators". Clues. 41 (1): 39–51