Historian looking for kin of 2 pensionados

TARLAC CITY — There is now an ongoing search for the descendants of two Tarlaqueños who arrived in the United States 101 years ago as pensionados.

Christian Trajano, public historian of Riverside, California, said plans to publish a book entitled "100 Years of Filipinos in Riverside," led to the search for the relatives of the early Filipino settlers in Riverside.

Trajano said the pensionados, or Filipino scholars who were sent to the US to get an American education, were the first Filipinos who settled in Riverside.

There were actually 103 Filipino pensionados who were sent to the US in 1903 after American soldiers successfully suppressed the Philippine rebellion.

In an electronic mail (e-mail), Trajano said two of the first 16 Filipino students hailed from Tarlac — Bernardo Agana and Joaquin Ramos, who were both 18-year-old when they arrived in the US.

Trajano said he is looking for the descendants of Agana and Ramos who can give him photos of the two Tarlaqueño pensionados and some personal details about them.

"We don’t want Riverside’s pioneering firsts to be left out of this 100-year history," he said.

Trajano can be contacted at 1255 Everton Place E-113, Riverside, CA 92139; telephone number 1 (909) 333-4436. For more details about the book project, visit Press Enterprize’s website at www.pe.com.