Gaudiel-Toribio Family, 1926-1958 and undated
Asuncion Santos and her five-year-old sister Fermina moved from the Philippines to Washington, D.C. in 1915. Fermina married Mariano Peji and they opened several restaurants, including the Light House Café in Portsmouth, Virginia. Asuncion married Generoso Gaudiel and adopted Doris Eleanor Relucio (1926-2001), whom they renamed Amparing Santos Gaudiel. Asuncion later married Gil Esposo and they opened the restaurant Manila House in Washington, D.C.
Amparing married Leonilo Toribio in 1949. They had five children, including Nila Toribio Straka (b. 1950), bought their first home on G Street in southeast Washington, D.C. and later settled in Accokeek in rural Maryland. Leo Toribio's cousin, Peping Hernandez was a musician who played with Dave Apollon's Filipino Orchestra (1).
This subseries includes oversized photographs from the United Filipino Club of New York's Fifth Annual Ball in 1939, the V.F.W. New Year's Eve Dance of the Vicente Lim Post #5471 and the Ladies Auxiliary in 1958 in Washington, D.C. The series also includes 43 digital images of the Peji and Toribio families and their correspondence. The photos depict the family at restaurants (their own and others) and events and show Mariano Peji and Leo C. Toribio during their service in the navy. The digital objects in the series include several letters between Amparing and Leo C. Toribio from 1949 to 1953.
The subseries also includes a folder of photocopies of newspaper articles about Filipinos in Portsmouth and Norfolk, Virginia from the 1950s.
The following individuals are pictured in the photographs: Juanita San Juan, Asuncion Esposo, Harold Relucio, Fermina Santos Peji, Amparing Santos Toribio, Nila Toribio Straka, Mariano Peji, Leonilo C. Toribio, Gill S. Gaudiel, and others.
- (1) Rita M. Cacas and Juanita Tamayo Lott, Filipinos in Washington, D.C. (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2009), 14, 17, 31, 38, 62, 63, 64, 65.
Dates
- Creation: 1926-1958 and undated
Physical Description
Inlcudes oversize items.
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open to the public and must be used in the Special Collections reading room. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection.
Extent
59 Items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Arrangement
This subseries is arranged with the digital-only photographs and correspondence first, arranged alphabetically, then the electronic record, then the oversized physical photographs, arranged alphabetically by title, and finally, the photocopies of newspaper articles, arranged alphabetically by title.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
This subseries contains digital copies and born-digital materials. If you would like to access the born-digital materials, please contact us prior to your visit as items may require specialized software for access.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials were donated to the Univeristy of Maryland Libraries by Leonila Torbido-Straka in two parts on April 29, 2015 and April 30, 2015.
Physical Description
Inlcudes oversize items.
Library Details
Part of the Special Collections and University Archives
University of Maryland Libraries
Hornbake Library
4130 Campus Drive
College Park Maryland 20742
301-405-9212
askhornbake@umd.edu