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Who were Salvador and Marjorie Roldan?
The struggle for marriage that lasted over 15 years.
Salvador had immigrated in 1925 with hopes of attending medical school. Like many Filipino Manong, Salvador Roldan worked as a farmworker and then as a houseboy.
Marjorie immigrated in 1929 to make it in Hollywood. Her mother was a pianist for silent movies and inspired her to take it up.
The full story as written by PCC history professor Susie Ling and Salvador's son, Bryan Roldan can be found at https://eastwindezine.com/one-love-story-behind-marriage-rights-the-roldan-family/.
Learn about the Yatko case and how it is a key representation of the racial tensions that contextualize Roldan v. Los Angeles County.
The Yatko Case
Based on the report of the San Diego Union-Tribune, Timothy Yatko, a Filipino waiter or "Manong," was married to a Caucasian woman, Lola Butler. Their marriage turned sour when Butler cheated on Yatko with a white man named Harry Kidder.
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Yatko caught the two kissing in Kidder's apartment; he stabbed Kidder to death. Butler wanted to testify against her husband, and during the trial, the legality of their marriage was questioned. State's counsel contended the married was void because Yatko was Filipino, and Filipinos were from the "Malay" people, which has relations to Mongolians.​
​However, there was no precedent on such a case because the anti-miscegenation laws did not include the Malay race. Nevertheless, the counsel won as the court decided that Yatko and Butler's marriage was void.
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Butler testified against Yatko, and Yatko was sentenced to life imprisonment in San Quentin.