annotated bibliography

"A Chinese Slave." San Francisco Bulletin. 64.24 (May 1887): 2. America's Historical Newspapers. EBSCOhost. Web. 13 April 2010.
This article shares the story of yet another Chinese girl who was brought to San Francisco for the sole purpose of prostitution. Sue Gum was this woman’s name and she was forced to live this shameful lifestyle for three years until she was finally captured. After managing to put away a small fraction of her earnings, Sue Gum was able to escape to the Presbyterian Mission house and purchase a ticket back to China. When her “owner” learned of her plan, he took the matter to the courts and had a warrant drawn up for the woman’s arrest based on false charges of theft and embezzlement. This happened twice, and each time the people from the mission went to the judge and explained the situation, resulting in the woman being released back to the mission. However, because the charges were pending against her, Sue Gum was not able to leave the United States. The main claim of this article is that what the Chinese tongs were doing was undoubtedly wrong, and that the way some American’s stepped in has helped a great deal. The evidence used to support this claim includes the example of the mission intervening twice, showing that people truly did care about these women. This is significant because one of the main reactions to the problem of Chinese Prostitution in San Francisco was that religious leaders stepped up to bring these women under their protection.

"Bondage of Chinese Women." San Francisco Bulletin. 37.95 (Jan. 1874): 3. America's Historical Newspapers. EBSCOhost. Web. 13 April 2010.
This article is was a piece that appeared in the San Francisco Bulletin in 1874 and explains one case that was going on in the city in regards to the owner of a brothel named Kim Lin. The article talks about several of the girls who worked in the brothel, one in particular who was named Ah Loy. This woman was abducted from Shanghai, brought to America, and forced into the sex slave industry. After working for one madam for several months, she met a man named Ah Yin, a man who became determined to free her from the brothel and marry her. Kim Lin agreed to free Ah Loy, but only on the condition that Ah Yin pay for her as according to Lin, he actually owned the body of Ah Loy. The article describes when the two men went to court and Lin produced an actual document of sale, on which a contract between the woman and owner is drawn up. The contract states that there is an assumed indebtedness to her owner, and when bought, she will receive the payment and then automatically hand it over to her previous owner. The end of the article explains how Ah Loy stated that if her previous owner were to murder her lover, she too would want to die.
Throughout the article, the author refers to all the Chinese people as mongrels or heathens. This shows the overall racist attitude that was prominent in the American community towards the Chinese immigrants.

"Law Intelligence." Daily Placer Times and Transcript. 5.1495 (Dec. 1854): 2. America's Historical Newspapers. EBSCOhost. Web. 13 April 2010.
“Law Intelligence” addresses the issue of a recent case that is going on in the San Francisco court system in which a defendant has been “indicted for keeping a house of prostitution.” This article represents a different type of reaction from the American’s than the religious leaders demonstrated. In this article the author explains that the objective of the trial is not to imprison the defendants necessarily, but instead to all together rid the community of them. The author says, “We all know and feel that this population is an eye-sore,” which demonstrates that not all people believed in stepping to help the Chinese. Instead, many believed the solution was to simply force all of the Chinese people out of the city. The different opinion that is displayed in this document is what makes it significant to the topic of Chinese prostitution in the early twentieth century.

McClain, Laurence Wu. "Donaldina Cameron." Chinese America: History and Perspectives (2001): 76. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 14 Apr. 2010
Donaldina Cameron was one of the major advocates for Chinese women during this time period, saving over 3,000 of them from the world of prostitution in her relatively short career. While she was without a doubt a hero of the times, this document explains the more complex pieces of Cameron’s life and involvement with the Chinese people. After moving to the city when she was 19, Cameron began to witness the injustice that was so prevalent towards these young women and she became outraged. Along with a couple other women, Donaldina Cameron attempted daring missions in order to rescue the prostitutes. Soon, she became the superintend of the Presbyterian Mission House in San Francisco and took thousands of Chinese women under her roof. The main claim of this article is that Donaldina did help many women, but she also held a very patronizing and superior attitude towards them. Evidence that helps to demonstrate this includes the examples of the extremely strict rules that were enforced in regards to marriage, conversion, and general house rules. These make it seem as though Cameron believed these women could not be trusted to care for themselves. The article also includes a quote from Cameron in which she used derogatory terms such as “waifs” and “heathen people.” This document is significant because it does show that many Americans did care enough to intervene, but sometimes they either had ulterior motives or simply did not respect the people they were trying to help. It demonstrates a very common belief of the times.

Peiss, Kathy and Thomas G. Paterson. Major Problems in the History of American Sexuality: Documents and Essays (Major Problems in American History Series). Houghton Mifflin Company, March 2001.
My primary document is in the form of a firsthand account from a Chinese girl who worked as a prostitute in San Francisco. Wong Ah So describes her experiences in the sex traffic industry from beginning to end. At 19 years old, a man came to her to home and asked her parent’s permission to take her as his wife to America where she would be able to earn a great deal of money. Her parents agreed and she was sent with the man, only to find out a couple weeks later that she was not going to be the man’s wife, but instead was to be sold into the prostitution rings ran by the San Francisco tongs, Chinese criminal organizations. Wong Ah So does not go into much detail about her life for the next seven months until she describes how she is rescued by a family friend who sees her at a banquet where she is supposed to be entertaining the tong members. The man assists her in escaping and then takes her to the Presbyterian mission house, an institution that over the years, helped save nearly 3000 Chinese prostitutes. The end of Wong Ah So’s story ends with her detailing what her current life is like. She is living at the Mission with Donaldina Cameron or “Miss Cameron” as Wong Ah So calls her, learning English and the art of weaving. This document is significant because the story of Wong Ah So and those of women like her were the driving forces in bringing a stop to the sale and bondage of Chinese women in San Francisco during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
Sridharan, Mohini. "Prostitution in the Early Chinese Community." Dartmouth College. N.D. Web. 13 April 2010.
This article begins by describing one of the main reasons that Chinese prostitution was so prevalent in San Francisco. According to Sridharan, this reason is the extremely lopsided ratio of Chinese men to women in the cite. He states "In 1850, there were only 7 Chinese women versus 4010 Chinese men in San Francisco and in 1855, women constituted only two percent of the total Chinese population in America." These circumstances caused by strict cultural rules that prevent women from traveling alone and the large amount of racism that Chinese people faced in America, resulted in many men turning to prostitution and most of the women into the profession because there were not many other jobs. The article also describes the sufferings of these women which included beatings, contracting venereal disease, and becoming addicted to drugs.
Sridharan goes on to describe how Americans reacted to the prostitution that was running rampant in their city. The first way people reacted was to become even more prejudice against the Chinese. One quote makes the claim that "not on virtuous Chinawoman has been brought into this country." The second way people reacted was to take charge of the situation themselves and try to help. The Presbyterian Mission home was one of the most successful institutions in rescuing Chinese prostitutes. Overall, this article gives insight into the reasons behind Chinese prostitution, the effects on the girls, and the reactions of the Americans to the situation.

"The Chinese Conspiracy Case." San Francisco Bulletin. 36.106 (Aug. 1873): 4. America's Historical Newspapers. EBSCOhost. Web. 13 April 2010
This article is entitled “The Chinese Conspiracy Case” and discusses a trial that is going on in the city. The defendants are several owners of brothels, and they are being tried by the city in order to get the brothels shut down. This article makes it clear that the problem with Chinese prostitution may have been facilitated by the American society, but was ultimately developed and pushed by the Chinese people themselves. This particular case concerns a woman who was bought from China by another Chinese man. She then escaped from his brothel and met Yet Sung, who she then married. Based on Chinese law, Yet Sung was required to pay for his bride, because she was the property of the brothel owner. The main claim of this document is that the Chinese population as a whole is what is causing the problem of women being sold into prostitution. The evidence that is used to support this claim is that the only instance when a non Chinese person is brought up is when the author discusses Yet Sung going to the mission house. This makes it appear like only Chinese people are involved in this situation, and so it is their entire fault.