Founders Fred and Dorothy Cordova have championed Filipino American activism since the 1950s, starting with student publications at Seattle University. In the early 1980s, they established the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS). FANHS now boasts over 40 chapters nationwide, with its National Archives in Seattle housing one of the largest collections of Filipino American history.

The FANHS-Metro New York Chapter (FANHS MNY), founded in 1991, shares FANHS National’s dedication to promoting the understanding, education, enlightenment, appreciation, and enrichment through the identification, gathering, preservation, and dissemination of the history and culture of Filipino Americans in the United States.