San Francisco Chinese Community and Earthquake Damage, ca. 1906
Collection context
Summary
- Extent:
- 223 photographic prints, various sizes; compiled in album, 19 x 26 cm. 220 digital objects
- Language:
- Collection materials are in English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The San Francisco Chinese Community and Earthquake Damage album contains 223 photographic prints taken circa 1906. A large percentage of the collection features the students of the Chinese Methodist Episcopal Mission, a girls' home in San Francisco's Chinatown. Included are many individual and group portraits, as well as interior and exterior views of the Mission and Church. Also featured throughout the album are several street and alley scenes taken in and around Chinatown; views of San Francisco, Golden Gate Park, and a Chinese cemetery; and scenes of the destruction caused by the earthquake and fire of 1906. Identified landmarks in addition to the Mission include Portsmouth Plaza, the Cumberland Presbyterian Chinese Mission, the Globe Hotel, the Grand Chinese Theatre, the Quong Lee Company, the Sing Kee Company, the Chinese Baptist Church, the W.F. Song photography studio, the Boston Store, the Hall of Justice, and the Sing Fat & Co. Chinese and Japanese Bazaar.
Shadows on the sidewalk in some of the prints indicate that the unidentified photographer of at least a portion of the collection was a woman. She was likely a teacher or student at the Mission, as most of the students' full names, as well as other personal information, are included in the captions. Other photographers identified are Hugo B. Goldsmith and the Goldsmith Brothers.
The prints are glued to the album pages. The album is a Ward Album for Unmounted Photographs, book no. 721.
- Acquisition information:
- The San Francisco Chinese Community and Earthquake Damage album was purchased in 1993.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: a Content Standard
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481