Historical Image of the Day

"Chinese Ritual and Procession, Los Angeles," circa 1900

Historical Image of the Day

Rock Springs Massacre, 1885. Even after the Exclusion Act, anti-Chinese ideology drove politics in the West. In Rock Springs, Wyoming, racism combined with labor activism, as the railroad was paying Chinese less than whites. White labor responding by destroying the Chinese community, killing at least 28 Chinese miners.

Historical Image of the Day

One of my favorite images of anti-Asian racism, this less than subtle image from either the late 1870s or early 1880s lays it out there for all of us to see. The Workingman's Party was the dominate force in California politics during the years leading up to Chinese exclusion. Their entire platform consisted of saving California for the white man by ending Chinese immigration. That they became such a political threat to both parties helped lead to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.

In this get out the vote image, you see the white man kicking the Chinese guy in the butt, with his queue extending all the way over the Pacific back to China, where he is fleeing.

Historical Image of the Day

This week's images will look at anti-Asian propaganda in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Handbill celebrating the Chinese Exclusion Act. The Chinese Exclusion Act was passed in 1882, becoming the first law to ban an entire nation's immigrants from our shores. However, I'm not convinced that this image dates from that year, despite its celebratory tone. That's because it proclaims a Democratic president signed it. But Chester Arthur, a Republican if there was one, was president in 1882. So I'm assuming this handbill celebrates some kind of extension or modification signed by Grover Cleveland during one on his two terms.

However, one great thing about this handbill is the celebration of the Democratic party as protecting the white man, a key element of white supremacist ideology during the Gilded Age.

Historical Image of the Day

Chinese-American man, Denver, early 20th century.

I love the weird background to the picture. I guess it's supposed to represent the Rockies or the western wilderness or something.

The Bizarre Complexity of American Racial Politics

The Daily Mirror finds this tidbit from 1909 in Marshfield, (now Coos Bay) Oregon. Having multiple racial groups whites discriminated against in the same place has often led to them fighting amongst themselves over who was truly at the bottom of the barrel. Blacks fighting to keep their kids out of schools that had Chinese students is a great example of this and also reminds us just how despised Chinese immigrants were in the American West during the mid 19th through early 20th centuries.

Historical Image of the Day

Sung Lung Washing and Ironing House, Salem, Oregon, 1889.

Historical Image of the Day

"Chinese American Children in Traditional Dresses," photograph by Arnold Genthe, San Francisco, early 20th century.

Historical Image of the Day

Chinese American railroad workers

Historical Image of the Day

Chinese American Telephone Exchange, San Francisco, probably early 20th century.

Historical Image of the Day

Chinese woman in California. No date, but probably 1850s or 1860s

Historical Image of the Day

This week's historical images are dedicated to the history of Chinese-Americans.

Anti-Chinese cartoon by Thomas Nast, 1869

Historical Image of the Day

Chinese owned dry goods company, St. Louis, Missouri, 1909.

Historical Image of the Day

Opium den, San Francisco's Chinatown, 1870s.