Barbara Posadas
Why did you choose Northwestern?
I was born and raised in Chicago. In 1967, DePaul University, my undergraduate institution, awarded me a $3,000 grant for graduate study, and my parents wanted me to live at home. My entering PhD cohort of twenty-eight included two women—only I survived. It was a different era. Nonetheless, I have always appreciated my Northwestern education.
How would you describe your research and/or work to a non-academic audience? What was it then and/or what it is now?
My research and publications have focused on the history of Filipino migration and ethnic community formation, specifically in the Chicago area before 1965, and more broadly in the United States after 1965 in my book, THE FILIPINO AMERICANS (1999).
Tell us who or what inspired your research and/or work.
In 1926, my father, Alipio G. Posadas, arrived in the United States from the Philippines to finish his college education at Purdue University. He settled in Chicago where he met and married my Polish American mother. They had many friends with similar stories who became the inspiration for my research.
What are you most proud of in your career to date?
In 2019, the Immigration and Ethnic History Society awarded me its Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award.
Tell us about a current achievement or something you're working on that excites you.
I am currently writing entries on "Pensionados" and "Anti-Miscegenation Law" for The SAGE Encyclopedia of Filipina/x/o American Studies.
What advice would you give your younger self or someone considering a similar path?
Find work that excites you!