After arriving in Seattle from the Philippines in 1930, Carlos Bulosan visited the city several times over the years to work or see friends. He returned to Seattle to stay in the early 1950s at the invitation of his friends Ponce Torres and Chris Mensalvas, who he knew from their years spent in labor organizing. Both Torres and Mensalvas were officials in the cannery workers union, Local 37, and for a time Bulosan became the Publicity Director of the union. The position caused some controversy, as Bulosan had never worked in the canneries.
In 1952, Bulosan dealt with a recurring bout of tuberculosis, leading to a yearlong stay at Firland Sanitorium. There he was visited regularly by Torres, Mensalvas, and Ernesto Mangaoang of Local 37, as well as many members of Seattle’s left-wing community. Frontier Books, a Communist-run bookstore, helped Bulosan with newspaper subscriptions.
Among Bulosan’s visitors at Firland was Josephine Patrick, a Communist Party member he had met at a union event, and their friendship developed into a romance. At the time, Patrick was separated but still married to her husband, also a Party member. Her relationship with Bulosan irked the Party, who expelled her on charges of “immorality.” She remained an activist, however, and later became a supporter of Seattle’s New Left, including the Black Panther Party and young activists in Local 37.
In his years in Seattle, Bulosan battled alcoholism and was often homeless, staying with Torres, Mensalvas, Patrick, or sleeping in the union hall. Despite the hardship, he remained an active writer, with evidence suggesting he began several manuscripts (now lost), including a novel based on Seattle’s Skid Road. In the hostile political environment of the Cold War, however, Bulosan was understandably introspective about his life and his years of activism, as seen in a reflective poem from this period, “Landscape with a Bottle.”
On September 11, 1956, Bulosan passed out in Seattle's City Hall Park following an evening of drinking with a labor lawyer friend. He had recently received a Carnegie Institute fellowship to focus on his writing, and was living in the Holland Hotel across from the park. He died in the hospital from pneumonia that evening. He was only in his mid-40s. After a memorial in the Local 37 union hall, Bulosan was buried in Mount Pleasant cemetery in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood.
Seattle’s City Hall Park (center) in Pioneer Square, October 1957, a year after Carlos Bulosan had collapsed there prior to dying of pneumonia. At the time he died, September 1956, Bulosan was living in the Holland Hotel (pictured at right). Two years before, he had lived in the Morrison Hotel (at left). Both single-resident occupancy hotels, his experiences there presumably were part of a novel he was completing about Seattle’s Skid Road when he died.
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Image Source: Seattle Municipal Archives Photograph Collection, Item #55382.
Pagdating ni Bulosan galing sa Pilipinas noong 1930, papunta-punta siya sa lungsod na ito para magtrabaho at magkita sila ng kaniyang mga kaibigan. Bumalik siya sa Seattle noong simula ng dekadang 1950 para manatili nang matagal dahil sa inbitasiyon nina Ponce Torres at Chris Mensalvas, mga kaibigian niyang nakilala sa mga taong nakipagisa sa mga trabahador. Sina Ponce Torres at Chris Mensalvas ang mga opisyal ng unyon ng kanarya, Local 37. Sa maikling panahon naging Direktor ng Pahayag ng unyon si Bulosan. Pinagtalunan ang kaniyang posisyon dahil hindi pa siya nagtrabaho sa mga kanariya.
Noong 1952, nagkasakit ng tuberculosis si Bulosan, kaya nanitili siya ng isang taon sa Firland Sanitarium. Ang kaniyang madalas na bisita ay sina Torres, Mensalvas, at Ernesto Mangaoang ng Local 37, at marami pang ibang kasapi ng komunidad na maka-kaliwa ng Seattle. Tinulungan siya ng Frontier Books sa kaniyang subskripsiyon sa mga diyaryo.
Ang isa sa mga bisita ni Bulosan sa Firland ay si Josephine Patrick, kasapi ng Lapiang Komunista na nakilala niya sa isang tipanang unyon. Naging pagmamahalan ang kanilang pagkakaibigan. Bagaman mayroon pang asawa si Patrick, nakabukod na sila. Dahil kasapi ng Lapiang Komunista ang asawa ni Patrick, nainis sa kanilang relasiyon ang Lapiang Komunista. Itiniwalag siya mula sa Lapiang Komunista dahil itinuring na walang moral ang kaniyang relasiyon kay Bulosan. Nanatili siyang aktibista, at naging tagapagtaguyod siya ng Seattle's New Left, kasangkot na ang Black Panther Party, at mga batang aktibista ng Local 37.
Habang nakatira siya sa Seattle, nagdusa si Bulosan sa sakit ng pagka-alkoholismo. Madalas, wala siyang tahanan kaya nakitira siya kina Torres, Mensalvas, at Patrick. Paminsan-minsan, natutulog siya sa gusali ng unyon. Kahit sa paghihirap, aktibo pa rin siyang manunulat. Mayroong katunayan na sinimulan niyang isulat ang mga nawalang manuskrito, kabahagi ang nobelang tungkol sa Skid Road ng Seattle. Maaaring makita ang kaniyang pagninilay-nilay tungkol sa kaniyang buhay at taon ng pag-aaktibismo sa kaniyang tulang mula sa panahon ng kapootan ng Cold War, "Landscape with a Bottle."
Noong Setyembre 11, 1956, nahimatay si Bulosan sa City Hall Park sa Seattle, pagkatapos ng isang gabing pagiinom kasama ang kaniyang kaibigang abogadong maka-trabaho. Kailan lamang, tinanggap niya ang Carnegie Institute fellowship para sa kaniyang panunulat, noong siya’y nakatira diyan sa Holland Hotel, katabi ng liwasan nito. Ikinamatay niya ang sakit ng pneumonia sa ospital sa gabing ito. Siya’y 40 taong gulang lamang. Pagkatapos ng kaniyang pang-aalala sa gusali ng unyong Local 37, nilibing siya sa Mount Pleasant Kampusanto sa Queen Anne ng Seattle.
Seattle’s City Hall Park (center)
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Image Source: Seattle Municipal Archives Photograph Collection, Item #55382.
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