The White Devil's Daughters
The Fight Against Slavery in San Francisco's Chinatown
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2019.
Format: Book
Edition: First edition.
Description: pages cm
During the first hundred years of Chinese immigration--from 1848 to 1943--San Francisco was home to a shockingly extensive underground slave trade in Asian women, who were exploited as prostitutes and indentured servants. In this gripping, necessary book, bestselling author Julia Flynn Siler shines a light on this little-known chapter in our history--and gives us a vivid portrait of the safe house to which enslaved women escaped. The Occidental Mission Home, situated on the edge of Chinatown, served as a gateway to freedom for thousands. Run by a courageous group of female Christian abolitionists, it survived earthquakes, fire, bubonic plague, and violent attacks. We meet Dolly Cameron, who ran the home from 1899 to 1934, and Tien Fuh Wu, who arrived at the house as a young child after her abuse as a household slave drew the attention of authorities. Wu would grow up to become Cameron's translator, deputy director, and steadfast friend. Siler shows how Dolly and her colleagues defied convention and even law--physically rescuing young girls from brothels, snatching them from their smugglers--and how they helped bring the exploiters to justice. Riveting and revelatory, The White Devil's Daughters is a timely, extraordinary account of oppression, resistance, and hope.
Contents:
Queen's room -- "The cussedest place for women" -- Reveille cry -- "No ordinary person" -- Victorian compromise -- Inked thumbprints -- The celestial quarter -- "To have a little Chinaman" -- Baiting the hook -- Life as a mui tsai -- "A worse slavery thanever uncle tom knew of " -- Dynamite -- Devil's playground -- Chinatown in tears -- Year of the rat -- Instant fame -- Municipal storm -- "Forcing me into the life" -- "I may go to sleep tonight and then find myself in hell!" -- A deathbed promise -- Taking public stands -- Pink curtain -- Courage to fight evil -- The Chinese Mark Twain -- 'Ell of a place! -- The Lord is my shepherd -- "The stress of circumstances" -- Homecomings -- Municipal crib -- Paper son -- Dragon stories -- Tiny -- Missionaries ofthe home -- Matchmaking -- The "joy zone" -- Fruit tramps -- "Are you wearing a mask and taking precautions?" -- Quiet defiance -- Sargy -- Bessie -- Heavens for courage -- The thwack of bouncing balls -- Little general -- Shangri-la -- Broken blossoms -- Epilogue: "Blessed Tien."
Subjects:
Occidental Mission Home -- History.
Human trafficking -- California -- San Francisco.
Social work with prostitutes -- California -- San Francisco -- History.
Chinese -- California -- San Francisco -- History.
Women abolitionists -- United States -- History.
United States -- Emigration and immigration -- History.
Occidental Mission Home -- History.
Human trafficking -- California -- San Francisco.
Social work with prostitutes -- California -- San Francisco -- History.
Chinese -- California -- San Francisco -- History.
Women abolitionists -- United States -- History.
United States -- Emigration and immigration -- History.
ISBN:
1101875267
Availability | |||
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Call Number | Location | Shelf Location | Status |
HISTORY North Am. US CA Sil | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Nonfiction | In |
HISTORY North Am. US CA Sil | Main (Downtown) | Third Level, Nonfiction | In |
"This is a Borzoi Book."
Includes bibliographical references.
Includes bibliographical references.