The San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) , previously called as the San Francisco Health Department, is the public health department of the city of San Francisco , California in the US. It has two main divisions: The San Francisco Health Network and Population Health.
138-609: In 1899, there was an outbreak of Bubonic Plague in San Francisco's Chinatown . During this time, it was discovered that there had been cases of the plague in Hong Kong , China. Chinese people were forbidden from entering the U.S. and fear affected citizens of San Francisco. The San Francisco Health Department closed Chinese businesses and subsequently burned parts of Chinatown . The inhabitants of Chinatown were required to receive vaccinations if they planned on relocating from
276-401: A Chinese interpreter visited the sick. By February 12, the team had studied six cases that all identified the characteristics of bubonic plague. This was confirmed by pathological and bacteriological data. Flexner, Novy, and Barker completed their investigation on February 16. They met with Governor Gage the same day and informed him of their conclusion. Gage was upset and accused them of being
414-601: A city health department officer, after finding suspiciously swollen lymph glands. Wilson and O'Brien then summoned Wilfred H. Kellogg, San Francisco's city bacteriologist, and the three men performed an autopsy as night closed. Looking through his microscope, Kellogg thought he saw plague bacilli. Late at night, Kellogg ran the suspicious samples of lymph fluid to Angel Island to be tested on animals in Kinyoun's better-equipped laboratory – an operation that would take at least four days. Meanwhile, Wilson and O'Brien called upon
552-427: A dock near the outfall of Chinatown's sewers, may have allowed rats carrying the plague to leave the ship and transmit the infection. However, it is difficult to trace the infection to a single vessel. Wherever it came from, the disease was soon established in the cramped Chinese ghetto neighborhood; a sudden increase in dead rats was observed as local rats became infected. Rumors of the plague's presence abounded in
690-894: A member of the San Francisco Health Network, an integrated delivery system operated by the Department of Public Health that provides all levels of care to San Franciscans. In fulfilling the San Francisco Department of Public Health's mission to promote the health of its citizens, it practices a harm reduction model, including needle exchange , which is proven to reduce the spread of viral infections like HIV , hepatitis B and hepatitis C . Since 2013, SFPDH's has made additional efforts to improve needle disposal through its coordination and funding of several collaborative and community-based programs: San Francisco Public Works provides maintenance for
828-711: A missionary in Canton, came to work with the Chinese immigrants in San Francisco. In November 1853 he organized the first Chinese mission in the United States, which provided much needed medical aid and conducted day and night schools that taught English to Chinese immigrants. He also published a Chinese/English newspaper, the Oriental , which staunchly defended the Chinese as anti-Chinese sentiment began to grow in
966-583: A national quarantine grew. As the 1902 general elections approached, members of the Southern Pacific board and the "Railroad Republican" faction increasingly saw Gage as an embarrassment to state Republicans . Gage's public denials of the plague outbreak were to protect the state's economy and the business interests of his political allies. However, reports from federal agencies and certain newspapers continued to prove Gage incorrect. Other states were moving to quarantine or boycott California, and
1104-501: A partnership between themselves and the sanitary campaign in Chinatown. Through this partnership, health officials all around the state would be notified if the causes of death were suspicious or had suspicion of the plague. This was in efforts to address and better serve the public's interests in health and sanitation during the time of the plague. In addition, any obtained tissues from suspicious causes of death would directly be sent to
1242-463: A place of vice caused it to become a tourist destination, attracting numerous working-class white people, who sought the oriental mystery of Chinese culture and sought to fulfill their expectations and fantasies about the filth and depravity. The white customers' patronization of Chinatown prostitutes was more extensive than gambling. After catering for three decades to white people as well as Chinese bachelors, Chinatown's prostitution sector developed into
1380-476: A plague epidemic had hit San Francisco's Chinatown, but the health board still was trying to deny it. The health board attempted to keep all the information regarding the outbreak secret by implementing strict regulations of what physicians could write official death certificates. Nevertheless, newspapers published the news of the presence of bubonic plague in San Francisco to the entire nation, especially William Randolph Hearst 's New York Journal which published
1518-409: A post office, and other infrastructure. Recent immigrants, many of whom are elderly, opt to live in Chinatown because of the availability of affordable housing and their familiarity with the culture. Due to a combination of factors, some more broad-based related to difficult circumstances for San Francisco itself, while other factors are more specific to this neighborhood, San Francisco's Chinatown faces
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#17327910195461656-414: A powerful vested interest, favoring the vice industry. As the tourist industry grew up, the visitors came to include members of the white middle class, which pushed the vice businesses to transform into an entertainment industry as a more respectable form in which to serve white customers. After the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, San Francisco saw the birth of its tourism industry. By
1794-492: A progressive city like San Francisco should feel compelled to tolerate in its midst a foreign community, perpetuated in filth, for the curiosity of tourists, the cupidity of lawyers and the adoration of artists. Dr. Williamson, Annual Report to the Board of Health (quoted in 1901) In March 1900, a Chinese-born man who was a long-time resident of Chinatown was found dead of bubonic plague . The next morning, all of Chinatown
1932-575: A separate Vietnamese enclave on Larkin Street in the heavily working-class Tenderloin district of San Francisco, where it is now known as the city's " Little Saigon ". San Francisco's Chinatown was the port of entry for early Chinese immigrants from the west side of the Pearl River Delta , speaking mainly Hoisanese and Zhongshanese , in the Guangdong province of southern China from
2070-514: A settlement with the MHS, whereby the federal government would remove Kinyoun from San Francisco with the promise that the state would secretly cooperate with the MHS in stamping out the plague epidemic. Rupert Blue was appointed in Kinyoun's place. Despite the secret agreement allowing for Kinyoun's removal, Gage went back on his promise of assisting federal authorities and continued to obstruct their efforts for study and quarantine. A report issued by
2208-413: A special plague edition. The official inspection and disinfection of Chinatown finally began, thanks to the monetary contributions of the supervisors of the volunteer physicians, policemen, and inspectors that participated in the actual disinfection campaign. The sanitizing of Chinatown began to show results as the death toll slowly dropped throughout the month of March and the beginning of April. Towards
2346-416: A struggle for survival. Officially, Chinatown is located in downtown San Francisco, covers 24 square blocks, and overlaps five postal ZIP codes (94108, 94133, 94111, 94102, and 94109). It is within an area of roughly 1 ⁄ 2 mi (0.80 km) long (north to south) by 1 ⁄ 4 mi (0.40 km) wide (east to west) with the current boundaries being, approximately, Kearny Street in
2484-447: A threat to public health. Over the next few weeks Gage questioned the diagnoses and blocked the publication of the final report. He blamed the commission of being biased and influenced by Kinyoun. Finally the two senators for California proposed that Gage needed to engage in friendly cooperation with federal authorities. Gage sent representatives to Washington to reach an agreement for federal authorities to suppress their findings concerning
2622-541: A whole and to the city government. The state legislature of California passed several measures to restrict the rights of Chinese immigrants, but these were largely superseded by the terms of the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. In 1880, the Burlingame Treaty was renegotiated and the United States ratified the Angell Treaty , which allowed federal restrictions on Chinese immigration and temporarily suspended
2760-589: Is Grant Avenue , with the Dragon Gate ("Chinatown Gate" on some maps) at the intersection of Bush Street and Grant Avenue, designed by landscape architects Melvin Lee and Joseph Yee and architect Clayton Lee; Saint Mary's Square with a statue of Sun Yat-sen by Benjamin Bufano ; a war memorial to Chinese war veterans; and stores, restaurants and mini-malls that cater mainly to tourists. The other, Stockton Street ,
2898-418: Is at present, cannot be rendered sanitary except by total obliteration. It should be depopulated, its buildings leveled by fire and its tunnels and cellars laid bare. Its occupants should be colonized on some distant portion of the peninsula, where every building should be constructed under strict municipal regulation and where every violation of the sanitary laws could be at once detected. The day has passed when
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#17327910195463036-402: Is frequented less often by tourists, and it presents an authentic Chinese look and feel reminiscent of Hong Kong , with its produce and fish markets, stores, and restaurants. It is dominated by mixed-use buildings that are three to four stories high, with shops on the ground floor and residential apartments upstairs. A major focal point in Chinatown is Portsmouth Square . Since it is one of
3174-679: Is primarily Cantonese and Taishanese -speaking, both dialects originating in southern China. Most Chinatown residents have origins in Guangdong Province and Hong Kong ; albeit there are some Mandarin -speaking residents from Taiwan and central and Northern China, but lesser in comparison to Cantonese-speaking people, despite Cantonese being a minority language amongst people in China and ethnically Chinese people in Asia. There are two hospitals, several parks and squares, numerous churches,
3312-635: Is the oldest Chinatown in North America and one of the largest Chinese enclaves outside Asia . It is also the oldest and largest of the four notable Chinese enclaves within San Francisco . Since its establishment in the early 1850s, it has been important and influential in the history and culture of ethnic Chinese immigrants in North America. Chinatown is an enclave that has retained its own customs, languages , places of worship , social clubs , and identity. The Chinatown district
3450-504: Is the sole provider of trauma and psychiatric emergency services for the City and County of San Francisco. A comprehensive medical center, ZSFG serves approximately 100,000 patients per year and provides 20 percent of the city’s inpatient care. In 2011, ZSFG became the first hospital in the country to be certified for a Traumatic Brain Injury program. As San Francisco’s public hospital, ZSFG is
3588-478: The Associated Press describing the plague's spread, publicly announced the outbreak throughout the United States. The state governments of Colorado , Texas and Louisiana imposed quarantines of California – arguing that since the state had refused to admit to a health crisis within its borders, states receiving rail or shipping cargo from California ports had the duty to protect themselves. Threats of
3726-598: The California Gold Rush , and purportedly the first Chinese prostitute in San Francisco. Arriving from Hong Kong in 1848, she became the best-known Asian woman in the American frontier . When Ah Toy left China for the United States , she originally traveled with her husband, who died during the voyage. Toy became the mistress of the ship's captain, who showered gold upon her, so much so that by
3864-525: The Committee of Fifty and, within a week of the end of the Great Fire, on Saturday, April 27, 1906, formed an additional Subcommittee on Relocating the Chinese, because he felt the land was too valuable for Chinese. Opposition arose, however, from politicians who feared that the removal of the Chinese would affect San Francisco's lucrative trade with Asian countries. Moreover, the government of China
4002-580: The San Francisco Bay Area , especially in Silicon Valley , such as Cupertino , Fremont , and Milpitas , where many Mandarin-speaking Taiwanese Americans settled. Despite these developments, many continue to commute in from these outer neighborhoods and cities to shop in Chinatown, causing gridlock on roads and delays in public transit, especially on weekends. To address this problem, the local public transit agency, Muni extended
4140-524: The San Francisco General Hospital , Laguna Honda Hospital and many other clinics throughout San Francisco. The San Francisco Health Network has stated they will perform duties irrespective of immigration status or the lack of health insurance . The network aims to implement and increase innovative strategies. The Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZFGH) (also called "The General")
4278-487: The San Francisco Planning Department , Chinatown is "the most densely populated urban area west of Manhattan ", with 15,000 residents living in 20 square blocks . In the 1970s, the population density in Chinatown was seven times the San Francisco average. During the time from 2009 to 2013, the median household income was $ 20,000 – compared to $ 76,000 citywide – with 29% of residents below
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4416-713: The Tin How Temple (Queen of Heaven and Goddess of the Seven Seas) on Waverly Place is the oldest Chinese temple in the United States. It is dedicated to the goddess Tin How or Mazu , the Divine Protector of seafarers, much honored by Chinese immigrants, especially arriving by ship, to San Francisco. The original building was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, and it opened on the top floor of a four-story building at 125 Waverly Place in 1910. After closing in 1955,
4554-402: The bubonic plague . White concluded that Kinyoun's bacteriological confirmation could no longer be credible. Governor Gage refused to support the diagnoses that were verified by the competent Pasteurians in San Francisco. Kinyoun was starting to express his frustration and suggested that independent outside experts confirm that the plague was present. White agreed and passed this information to
4692-441: The national poverty threshold . The median age was 50 years, the oldest of any neighborhood. As of 2015, two thirds of the residents lived in one of Chinatown's 105 single room occupancy hotels (SRO), 96 of which had private owners and nine were owned by nonprofits. There are two public housing projects in Chinatown, Ping Yuen and North Ping Yuen. Most residents are monolingual speakers of mutually unintelligible dialects of
4830-678: The 1850s to the 1900s. On August 28, 1850, at Portsmouth Square, San Francisco's first mayor , John Geary , officially welcomed 300 "China Boys" to San Francisco. By 1854, the Alta California , a local newspaper which had previously taken a supportive stance on Chinese immigrants in San Francisco, began attacking them, writing after a recent influx that "if the city continues to fill up with these people, it will be ere long become necessary to make them subject of special legislation". These early immigrants settled near Portsmouth Square and around Dupont Street (now called Grant Ave). As
4968-458: The 1850s, San Francisco "was all but submerged in Caucasian forms of gambling and prostitution and lewdness" . During the late period of the California Gold Rush , a few Chinese female prostitutes began their sexual businesses in Chinatown. In addition, the major prostitution enterprises had been raised by criminal gang group "Tong", importing unmarried Chinese women to San Francisco. During
5106-574: The 1850s. The original building was destroyed by the earthquake, and the present church building on 925 Stockton Street was built in 1907. Other Christian denominations followed, including the Methodist Church on Washington Street (founded 1870, rebuilt 1911) and the First Baptist Church (founded 1880, rebuilt 1908 on Waverly Place) as well as Catholic, Congregational, and Episcopal. The pattern these early missions followed
5244-450: The 1870s and further established in the 1880s and 1890s, Chinatown's exotic, infamous reputation began to attract tourists. Tour providers emphasized the vice-ridden elements of the area, strongly encouraging any curious visitors to take a professional guide or police escort with them to venture into Chinatown. These early tours often included staged reenactments of the "depravity of the locals" who were paid by tour operators to participate in
5382-416: The 1870s to 1880s, the population of Chinese sex workers in Chinatown grew rapidly to more than 1,800, accounting for 70% of the total Chinese female population. In the mid-19th century, police harassment reshaped the urban geography and the social life of Chinese prostitutes. Consequently, hundreds of Chinese prostitutes were expelled to side streets and alleys hidden from public traffic. From 1870 to 1874,
5520-441: The 1880s and 1890s, twenty to thirty tongs ran highly profitable gambling houses, brothels, opium dens, and slave trade enterprises in Chinatown. Overcrowding, segregation, graft, and the lack of governmental control contributed to conditions that sustained the criminal tongs until the early 1920s. Chinatown's isolation and compact geography intensified the criminal behavior that terrorized the community for decades despite efforts by
5658-587: The 1880s, Chinatown became a haven for later waves of emigrants from China in the 20th century. Working-class Hongkonger emigrants began arriving in large numbers in the late 1960s. Despite their status and professional qualifications in Hong Kong, many took low-paying employment in restaurants and garment factories in Chinatown because of limited English. An increase in Cantonese -speaking emigrants from Hong Kong and Mainland China has gradually led to
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5796-501: The 1890s in the fight against bubonic plague, many of the world's doctors did not immediately change their ineffective and outdated methods. In November 1898, the US Marine Hospital Service (MHS) chief surgeon, James M. Gassaway, felt obliged to refute rumors of plague in San Francisco. Supported by the city's health officer, Gassaway said that some Chinese residents had died of pneumonia or lung edema, and it
5934-408: The Board of Health lifted the quarantine on March 9 after it had been in force for only 2½ days. O'Brien said, by way of explanation, that "the general clamor had become too great to ignore". The animals tested in Kinyoun's lab seemed to be in normal conditions after the first 48 hours of being exposed to the possible plague-causing agents. The lack of early response cast doubt on the theory that plague
6072-418: The Board of Health's directives. Angry and worried Chinese communities reacted by hiding those that were sick. On March 13, another lab animal, a monkey that was exposed to the plague, died. All of the dead animals tested positive for the plague bacteria. U.S. Surgeon General Walter Wyman informed the San Francisco doctors at the end of March 1900 that his laboratory confirmed the fact that fleas can carry
6210-814: The California State Legislature, in early January 1903, Gage continued to deny the outbreak. He blamed the federal government, in particular, Kinyoun, the MHS, and the San Francisco Board of Health for damaging the state's economy. PBS American Experience: Plague at the Golden Gate https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/plague-golden-gate/#part01 Chinatown, San Francisco The Chinatown centered on Grant Avenue and Stockton Street in San Francisco , California , ( Chinese : 唐人街 ; pinyin : tángrénjiē ; Jyutping : tong4 jan4 gaai1 )
6348-627: The California legislature formally criminalized the immigrant Asian women who were transported into California. In 1875, the U.S. Congress followed California's action and passed the Page Law , which was the first major legal restriction to prohibit the immigration of Chinese, Japanese, and Mongolian women into America. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act declared that no more skilled or unskilled immigrants would be allowed to enter
6486-465: The Chinatown community reflected the social norms and racial inequalities during that time for Chinese immigrants. Housing for the majority of Chinatown Chinese immigrants was not fit nor adequate for human living, but with scarce housing options and landlords unwilling to provide equal and fair housing, Chinese immigrants were left little option other than to live with such housing disparities. Discrimination against Chinese Americans culminated in two acts,
6624-465: The Chinese community had agreed that inoculating the population with such serum could be a reasonable and safe solution, but soon after agreed with the rest of the Chinese population in that it was not ethical to try the vaccine in humans first. The representatives from the Chinese Six companies demanded the vaccination program to be eliminated as an option, and with much pressure and insistence from
6762-521: The Chinese community the vaccination program was halted. Joseph J. Kinyoun was feeling the pressure of the public to clear his reputation. He summoned the help of U.S. Surgeon General Walter Wyman to bring someone from the outside to investigate Kinyoun's procedures. In December 1900 Wyman selected Assistant Surgeon General Joseph H. White to manage the investigation surrounding all of the Pacific Coast stations. White wanted to focus on how food
6900-435: The Chinese doctors thought was typhus or gonorrhea , the latter a sexually transmitted disease common to Chinatown's residents at that time. After failed medications and no relief for his illness, he died in his bed after suffering for four weeks. In the morning, the body was taken to a Chinese undertaker, where it was examined by San Francisco police surgeon Frank P. Wilson on March 6, 1900. Wilson called for A.P. O'Brien,
7038-569: The Chinese emigrated from, was subdivided into many distinct districts and some with distinct dialects. Several district associations, open to anyone emigrating from that district(s), were formed in the 1850s to act as a culture-shock absorber for newly arrived immigrants and to settle disputes among their members. Although there are some disagreements about which association formed first, by 1854, six such district associations were formed, of various size and influence, and disputes between members of different associations became more frequent. Thus, in 1862,
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#17327910195467176-579: The Chinese language: historically Hoisanese , now Cantonese and some Mandarin . In 2015, only 14% of households in the SROs were headed by a person that spoke English fluently. The areas of Stockton and Washington Streets and Jackson and Kearny Streets in Chinatown are almost entirely Chinese or Asian, with blocks ranging from 93% to 100% Asian. According to a study by the San Francisco Planning Department in 2018, 81% of
7314-747: The Chinese, largely because the defense by the State of California was unable to prove that Chinese Americans were more susceptible to plague than Anglo Americans. The decision set a precedent for greater limits placed on public health authorities seeking to isolate diseased populations. Between 1901 and 1902, the plague outbreak continued to worsen. In a 1901 address to both houses of the California State Legislature , Gage accused federal authorities, particularly Kinyoun, of injecting plague bacteria into cadavers , falsifying evidence. In response to what he said to be massive scaremongering by
7452-411: The City granted 43 building permits to Chinese businesses. By the time of the first post-quake Chinese New Year in 1907, several dozen buildings were completed, using old bricks unburnt by the fire, and Chinatown was filled with happy people. The reconstruction of Chinatown was completed more or less in 1908, a year ahead of the rest of the city. While the city's proposals to relocate Chinatown failed,
7590-528: The Great Fire, which ended on April 21, 1906, the City seized the chance to remove the Chinese from the old downtown business district. Certain city officials and real-estate developers made more formal plans to move Chinatown to the Hunters Point neighborhood at the southern edge of the city, or even further south to Daly City . Abe Ruef , the political boss widely considered to be the power behind Mayor Eugene Schmitz , invited himself to become part of
7728-510: The MHS, Gage pushed a censorship bill to gag any media reports of plague infection. The bill failed in the California State Legislature , yet laws to gag reports amongst the medical community succeeded in passage and were signed into law by the governor. In addition, $ 100,000 was allocated to a public campaign led by Gage to deny the plague's existence. Privately, however, Gage sent a special commission to Washington, D.C. , consisting of Southern Pacific , newspaper and shipping lawyers to negotiate
7866-525: The Pacific Ocean. For these reasons, all ships were rigorously inspected. At that time, however, it was not widely known that rats could carry plague, and that fleas on those rats could transmit the disease to humans. Ships arriving in US ports were declared clean after inspection of the passengers showed no signs of disease. Health officials conducted no tests on rats or fleas. Despite important advances in
8004-507: The Public Health Service Laboratory in San Francisco to help identify and eradicate the infection. The Division is composed of various branches dedicated to core public health services for the City and County of San Francisco, such as health protection and promotion, disease and injury prevention, disaster preparedness and response, and environmental health services. The San Francisco Health Network consists of
8142-474: The Sing Chong and Sing Fat bazaars on the west corners of Grant Ave (then Dupont St) and California St, which have become icons of San Francisco Chinatown. This design strategy leveraged the ethnic identity and exoticness that city planners used to justify the relocation of Chinatown to become the same forces that made the area an attractive tourist location. In constructing "Oriental" style architecture,
8280-585: The Six Companies and police/city officials to stem the tide. The San Francisco Police Department established its so-called Chinatown Squad in the 1880s, consisting of six patrolmen led by a sergeant. However, the Squad was ineffective largely by design. An investigation published in 1901 by the California state legislature found that Mayor James D. Phelan and Police Chief William P. Sullivan Jr. had knowingly tolerated gambling and prostitution in Chinatown in
8418-527: The Six Companies, filed suit on behalf of Wong Wai, a merchant who took a stance against what he perceived as a violation of his personal liberty. Not quite a class action suit , the arguments included similar wording such as complaints that all residents of Chinatown were being denied "equal protection under the law" , part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US constitution. Federal judge William W. Morrow ruled uncharacteristically in favor of
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#17327910195468556-519: The State Board of Health on September 16, 1901, bolstered Gage's claims, denying the plague's outbreak. Widespread racism toward Chinese immigrants was socially accepted during the initial time of the Chinatown plague in the early 1900s. Standard social rights and privileges were often denied to the Chinese people, as shown in the way landlords would refuse to maintain their own property when renting to Chinese immigrants. The living conditions in
8694-797: The Sunday magazine supplement of the San Francisco Examiner carried an article titled "Why San Francisco Is Plague-Proof". Certain American experts held the mistaken belief that a rice-based diet left Asians with a lower resistance to plague, and that a diet of meat kept Europeans free from this disease. In January 1900, the four-masted steamship S.S. Australia laid anchor in the Port of San Francisco . The ship sailed between Honolulu and San Francisco regularly, and its passengers and crew were declared clean. Cargo from Honolulu, unloaded at
8832-482: The United States and Qing China were normalized through the Burlingame Treaty of 1868. Among other terms, the treaty promised the right of free immigration and travel within the United States for Chinese. Business leaders saw China as a plentiful source of cheap labor, and celebrated the treaty's ratification. But this did not last for long. The mostly male Chinese immigrants came to the United States with
8970-543: The ability to rebuild in their old Chinatown quarters was the first significant victory for the Chinese community in Chinatown. Even when the Subcommittee was bringing its relocation attempt to an end, the Chinese were already rebuilding, albeit with temporary wooden buildings which did not require permits. By June 10, 1906, twelve Chinese businesses were opened in Chinatown, including a couple of cafes. The actual reconstruction did not begin until October 1, 1906, when
9108-405: The affected area, but Chinese and Japanese Americans required a health certificate to leave the city. Residents were initially angered as those with jobs outside of San Francisco were prevented from working. Few Chinese agreed to take the inoculation, especially after press reports on May 22, 1900, that people who did agree were experiencing severe pain from the untested vaccine. On May 24, 1900, with
9246-477: The air they breathe) scarcely one degree above those under which the rats of our water-front and other vermin live, breathe and have their being. And this order of things seems inseparable from the very nature of the race, and probably must be accepted and borne with—must be endured, if it cannot be cured—restricted and looked after, so far as possible, with unceasing vigilance, so that, whatever of benefit, "of degree," even, that may be derived from such modification of
9384-403: The area gratified Western fascination with and perception of a stereotyped Chinese identity. Opportunistic individuals from within the Chinese community and from outside the Chinese community made entrepreneurial gains from this "ethnic tourism" as it emerged in the early 1900s and boosted local business. In November 1907, an article extolling the virtues of the "new Chinatown of San Francisco"
9522-608: The bay, with postmortem cultures proving they had the plague. In New York in November 1899, the British ship J.W. Taylor brought three cases of plague from Brazil, but the cases were confined to the ship. The Japanese freighter S.S. Nanyo Maru arrived in Port Townsend, Washington , on January 30, 1900, with 3 deaths out of 17 cases of confirmed plague. All of these ships were quarantined; they are not known to have infected
9660-636: The building of the first transcontinental railroad , and settling in Chinatown for refuge from the hostilities in the West. The main dialect spoken in Chinatown then was Hoisan-wa (aka Hoisanese; Toisanese in Cantonese and Taishanese in Mandarin), native to the emigrants from Hoisan (aka Toisan in Cantonese and Taishan in Mandarin), Sze Yup , in the Pearl River Delta. Surviving the ravages of
9798-584: The city in order to control one of the disease's vectors . In June 1908, 160 more cases had been identified, including 78 deaths, a much lower mortality rate than 1900–1904. All of the infected people were European, and the California ground squirrel was identified as another vector of the disease. The initial denial of the 1900 infection may have allowed the pathogen to gain its first toehold in America, from which it spread sporadically to other states in
9936-479: The city's subway network to the neighborhood via the new Central Subway . Unlike in most Chinatowns in the United States , ethnic Chinese refugees from Vietnam have not established businesses in San Francisco's Chinatown district, due to high property values and rents. Instead, many Chinese-Vietnamese – as opposed to ethnic Vietnamese who tended to congregate in larger numbers in San Jose – have established
10074-422: The city's Board of Health and insisted that Chinatown be quarantined immediately. When dawn came on March 7, 1900, Chinatown was circled by rope and surrounded by policemen preventing egress or access to anyone but Whites. The 12-block area was bordered by four streets: Broadway, Kearney, California and Stockton. Approximately 25,000–35,000 residents were unable to leave. Chinese Consul General Ho Yow felt that
10212-549: The city, quickly gaining the notice of authorities from MHS stationed on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay , including Chief Kinyoun. A Chinese American named Chick Gin, Wing Chung Ging or Wong Chut King became the first official plague victim in California. The 41-year-old man, born in China and a San Francisco resident for 16 years, was a bachelor living in the basement of the Globe Hotel in Chinatown, at
10350-540: The city. A citizen, named Wong Wai, sued the department; the ruling was in favor of Wai and requested that the department should terminate their behavior. Health officials, dissatisfied with the ruling, ostracized and isolated Chinatown and all its inhabitants, because of their fears of the plague spreading. The plague scare raised awareness for public health intervention. San Francisco's health officials, including San Francisco Mayor Eugene Schmitz , California Governor George Pardee , and his personal health officials, created
10488-402: The contrary, other residents did not support the inspection and argued that the disinfecting plan was not being done in good faith. Believing a second quarantine would be soon implemented, worried residents began to flee quietly and hide in friends' houses outside of Chinatown . As days passed, more dead bodies were reported and autopsies revealed the presence of plague bacilli, indicating that
10626-650: The country, which meant that many Chinese and Chinese Americans could not have families in America, because their wives and children were prohibited to immigrate. Simultaneously, the public discourse began to accuse Chinese prostitutes of transmitting venereal diseases. Dr. Hugh Huger Toland , a member of the San Francisco Board of Health, reported that white boys and men contracted diseases when they visited "Chinese houses of prostitution" in Chinatown, in order to warn white citizens to stay away; Toland asserted that nine-tenths of his patients had patronized Chinese prostitutes. "When these persons come to me I ask them where they got
10764-401: The decision by instituting a quarantine order that avoided mention of race, but which was precisely drafted so as to encompass all of the Chinatown area of San Francisco while excluding white-owned businesses on the periphery of that area"; this effort was also struck down, with the court noting that the boundaries of the quarantine corresponded with the ethnicity of building occupants rather than
10902-454: The defendants were violating the plaintiffs' Fourteenth Amendment rights. The ruling required that the same restrictions, if any, be applied to everyone no matter their ethnic group. The defendants did not have enough evidence to prove that the Chinese were transmitting the plague. Morrow agreed with the argument that if they were, the city would not have permitted them to roam the streets of San Francisco. The Board then "attempted to sidestep
11040-461: The directive of rebuilding Chinatown into an attractive district along orientalized and stereotyped conceptions still gained traction. A group of Chinese merchants, including Mendocino -born Look Tin Eli , hired American architects to design in a Chinese-motif " Oriental " style in order to promote tourism in the rebuilt Chinatown. The results of this design strategy were the pagoda-topped buildings of
11178-465: The disease was bubonic plague and informed the Health Board right away. In an attempt to avoid a second controversial quarantine, the Health Board continued with a house-to-house inspection to look for possible plague infested households – disinfecting those that were thought to be at risk of infection. Participants in the house-to-house examination were mainly volunteer physicians and residents. On
11316-556: The disease, and they generally tell me that they have been with Chinawomen." All great cities have their slums and localities where filth, disease, crime and misery abound; but in the very best aspect which "Chinatown" can be made to present, it must stand apart, conspicuous and beyond them all in the extreme degree of all these horrible attributes, the rankest outgrowth of human degradation that can be found upon this continent. Here it may truly be said that human beings exist under conditions (as regards their mode of life and
11454-440: The east, Broadway in the north, Powell in the west, and Bush Street in the south. Owing to a combination of multifactorial issues, some more generally tied to socioeconomic difficulties afflicting downtown San Francisco itself, while other factors are more specific to this neighborhood, San Francisco's Chinatown faces a struggle for survival and is shrinking. Within Chinatown there are two major north–south thoroughfares . One
11592-559: The elegant new "parlour house" of madame Belle Cora, and the cottage of Fanny Perrier, mistress of Judge Edward (Ned) McGowan. In 1857, Ah Toy returned to China a wealthy woman to live the rest of her days in comfort, but came back to California in 1859. From 1868 until her death in 1928, she lived a largely quiet life in Santa Clara County , returning to public attention only upon dying at age 98 in San Jose , three months short of her ninety ninth birthday. Relations between
11730-513: The end of April, the corpse of Law An, a Chinese laborer from a village near the Sacramento River , was found in an alley in Chinatown. The cause of death of Law An was determined to be bubonic plague. After that, a few more Chinese residents that died suddenly were determined to be infested with plague bacilli. The fear that the bubonic plague was spreading intensified. The controversy of the vaccination program organized by Kinyoun with
11868-458: The epidemic was stopped in 1904. There were 121 cases identified, resulting in 119 deaths. Much of urban San Francisco was destroyed by a fire in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake , including all of the Chinatown district. The process of rebuilding began immediately but took several years. While reconstruction was in full swing, a second plague epidemic hit San Francisco in May and August 1907 but it
12006-620: The evil of their presence among us, may at least be attained, not daring to hope that there can be any radical remedy for the great, overshadowing evil which Chinese immigration has inflicted upon this people. The Report of the Special Committee of the Board of Supervisors of San Francisco, on the Condition of the Chinese Quarter of that City (1885) By the end of the 19th century, Chinatown's assumed reputation as
12144-471: The federal experts work with state health authorities. Gage's request was not granted because the federal government wanted the commission to be allowed to work independently. They would relay all of their findings to the treasury department and then forwarded to Gage. Flexner, Novy, and Barker scheduled an inspection of the sick and dead on February 6. The federal investigators split up the duties. Novy carried out bacteriological tests, while Barker accompanied by
12282-535: The few open spaces in Chinatown and sits above a large underground parking lot, Portsmouth Square is used by people such as tai chi practitioners and old men playing Chinese chess . A replica of the Goddess of Democracy used in the Tiananmen Square protest was built in 1999 by Thomas Marsh and stands in the square. It is made of bronze and weighs approximately 600 lb (270 kg). According to
12420-569: The flames out of control, and nearly all of Chinatown burned—38 acres (15 ha)—leaving 6,000 without homes. The extensive maritime operations of the port of San Francisco caused concern among medical men such as Joseph J. Kinyoun , the chief quarantine officer of the MHS in San Francisco, about the infection spreading to California. A Japanese ship, the S.S. Nippon Maru , arriving in San Francisco Bay in June 1899, had two plague deaths at sea, and there were two more cases of stowaways found dead in
12558-488: The form of sylvatic plague (rural plague). However, it is possible that the ground squirrel infection predated 1900. The third pandemic of the plague started in 1855 in China and eventually killed about 15 million people, mainly in India. In 1894, the plague hit Hong Kong , a major trade port between China and the US. US officials were worried that others would get infections from cargo carried by ships that would cross
12696-629: The general population. However, it is possible that plague escaped some unknown ship by way of fleas or rats, later to infect US residents. In this atmosphere of grave danger, January 1900, Kinyoun ordered all ships coming to San Francisco from China, Japan, Australia and Hawaii to fly yellow flags to warn of possible plague on board. Many entrepreneurs and sailing men felt that this was bad for business, and unfair to ships that were free of plague. City promoters were confident that plague could not take hold, and they were unhappy with what they saw as Kinyoun's high-handed abuse of authority. On February 4, 1900,
12834-406: The help of Chinese Six Companies , they hired the law firm of Reddy, Campbell, and Metson. Defendants included Joseph J. Kinyoun and all of the members of the San Francisco Board of Health. The Chinese wanted the courts to issue a provisional injunction to enforce what they argued was their constitutional right to travel outside of San Francisco. On July 3, 1900, Judge William W. Morrow ruled that
12972-444: The help of Surgeon General Wyman spiked. The plan was to inoculate the Chinese residents with Haffkine's vaccine , a prophylactic anti-plague vaccine that was intended to provide some protection against the plague for a 6-month period. No one spoke about the side effects and that the vaccine was still not approved for humans. Most Chinese residents refused and demanded the vaccine to be tested in rats first. At first, representatives of
13110-621: The immigration of unskilled laborers. Anti-immigrant sentiment became federal law once the United States Government passed the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882: the first immigration restriction law aimed at a single ethnic group. This law, along with other immigration restriction laws such as the Geary Act , greatly reduced the numbers of Chinese allowed into the country and the city, and in theory limited Chinese immigration to single males only. Exceptions were in fact granted to
13248-710: The intent of sending money home to support their families; coupled with the high cost of repaying their loans for travel, they often had to take any work that was available. Fears began to arise among non-Chinese workers that they could be replaced, and resentment towards Chinese immigrants rose. With extensive nationwide unemployment in the wake of the Panic of 1873 , racial tensions in the city boiled over into full blown race riots. The two-day San Francisco riot of 1877 raged through Chinatown in July; four were killed and US$ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 2,860,000 in 2023) in property damage
13386-504: The interest of bolstering municipal revenue, calling the police department "so apathetic in putting down the horrible system of slavery existing in Chinatown as to justify your committee in believing it criminally negligent." Phelan and Sullivan testified it would take between 180 and 400 policemen to enforce the laws against gambling and prostitution, which was contradicted by the ex-Chief of Police William J. Biggy , who said 30 "earnestly directed" policemen would suffice. Chinatown, as it
13524-432: The intersection of the streets now called Grant and Jackson. The Globe Hotel was built in 1857, with the appearance of an Italian palazzo. However, by the mid-1870s it was a squalid tenement crowded with Chinese residents. Just outside, Jackson Street was the Chinese red-light district, where unmarried men could visit "hundred-men's-wives". On February 7, 1900, Wong Chut King, the owner of a lumber yard, fell sick with what
13662-421: The loss of revenue due to quarantine. The failure to act quickly may have allowed the disease to establish itself among local animal populations. Federal authorities worked to prove that there was a major health problem, and they isolated the affected area; this undermined Gage's credibility, and he lost the governorship in the 1902 elections. The new governor, George Pardee , implemented public-health measures and
13800-454: The neighborhood to an all-time low in the 1920s. Many early Chinese immigrants to San Francisco and beyond were processed at Angel Island , in the San Francisco Bay , which is now a state park. Unlike Ellis Island on the east coast where prospective European immigrants might be held for up to a week, Angel Island typically detained Chinese immigrants for months while they were interrogated closely to validate their papers. The detention facility
13938-745: The outbreak, by threatening the university's state funding. The Bulletin also attacked the federal commission, branding it as a "youthful and inexperienced trio." The clash between Gage and federal authorities intensified. Wyman instructed Kinyoun to place Chinatown under a second quarantine, as well as blocking all East Asians from entering state borders. Wyman also instructed Kinyoun to inoculate all persons of Asian heritage in Chinatown, using an experimental vaccine developed by Waldemar Haffkine , one known to have severe side effects. Spokesmen in Chinatown protested strenuously; they did not give their permission for this kind of mass experimentation. The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association , also known as
14076-601: The plague and transmit it to a new host. Allied with powerful railroad and city business interests, California governor Henry Gage publicly denied the existence of any pestilent outbreak in San Francisco, fearing that any word of the bubonic plague 's presence would deeply damage the city's and state's economy. Supportive newspapers, such as the Call , the Chronicle and the Bulletin , echoed Gage's denials, beginning what
14214-481: The plague in San Francisco. The federal authorities agreed to these demands after Gage's representatives verbally pledged to manage a sanitary campaign in Chinatown. This would be done secretively under the guidance of an expert from the Marine Hospital Service This deal was designed to avoid impairing the state's reputation and economy. Surgeon general Wyman took the majority of the blame. He
14352-444: The pool of cheap labor with them. On July 8, 1906, after 25 committee meetings and considering various alternative sites in the city, the subcommittee submitted a final report stating their inability to drive the Chinese from their old Chinatown quarters. Ironically, plans to relocate Chinatown failed in the end because restrictive housing covenants in other areas of the city prohibited Chinese from settling elsewhere. In any event,
14490-488: The powerful shipping and rail companies sought a new leader. At the state Republican convention that year, the Railroad Republican faction refused Gage's renomination for governorship. In his place, former Mayor of Oakland George Pardee , a German-trained medical physician, received the nomination. Pardee's nomination was largely a compromise between the Railroad Republican factions. In his final speech, to
14628-499: The presence of the disease. Upon the death of Wong Chut King, the San Francisco Health Board took immediate action to prevent the spread of plague: Chinatown was quarantined. Health officials, in order to prevent the propagation of the disease, made the decision of placing Chinatown under quarantine, without any notice to the residents – targeting Chinese residents only. White Americans that were walking
14766-415: The quarantine of San Francisco's Chinatown, and the permanent extension of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The extended quarantine of Chinatown was motivated more by racist images of Chinese Americans as carriers of disease than by actual evidence of the presence of Bubonic plague . San Francisco's quarantine measures were explicitly discriminatory and segregatory, allowing European Americans to leave
14904-535: The quarantine was likely based on false assumptions and that it was entirely unfair to Chinese people and would seek an injunction to lift the quarantine. San Francisco mayor James D. Phelan was in favor of keeping the Chinese-speaking residents separated from the Anglo-Americans – claiming that Chinese Americans were unclean, filthy, and "a constant menace to the public health." Nevertheless,
15042-456: The reenactments. Such reenactments exacerbated the perceptions of Chinatown as a problematic, vice-ridden location among San Francisco visitors and San Franciscans. The emphasis on the danger and depravity of the community ignored deeper issues of poverty, racial discrimination, and problems of overcrowding with overtaxed infrastructure. Ah Toy (18 May 1829 – 1 February 1928) was a Cantonese prostitute and madam in San Francisco during
15180-501: The remainder elsewhere. The area was the one geographical region deeded by the city government and private property owners which allowed Chinese persons to inherit and inhabit dwellings within the city. The majority of these Chinese shopkeepers, restaurant owners, and hired workers in San Francisco Chinatown were predominantly Hoisanese and male. For example, in 1851, the reported Chinese population in California
15318-421: The removal of which many a scheme has been devised, is but a memory." Oakland Tribune, April 1906. Plans to relocate Chinatown predated the earthquake several years. At the 1901 Chinese Exclusion Convention held in San Francisco, A. Sbarboro called Chinatown "synonymous with disease, dirt and unlawful deeds" that "give[s] us nothing but evil habits and noxious stenches". With Chinatown completely demolished by
15456-625: The replacement in Chinatown of the Hoisanese dialect by the standard Cantonese dialect. Due to such overcrowding and poverty, other Chinese areas have been established within the city of San Francisco proper, including one in its Richmond and three more in its Sunset districts, as well as a recently established one in the Visitacion Valley neighborhood. These outer neighborhoods have been settled largely by Chinese from Southeast Asia. There are also many suburban Chinese communities in
15594-543: The residents in the neighborhood were Asian. Many of the Chinese immigrants who managed to accumulate wealth while living in Chinatown move to the Richmond District , the Sunset District , or the suburbs. In the 1850s, Chinese pioneers, mainly from villages in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong , began immigrating in large numbers to San Francisco, initially drawn by the California Gold Rush and
15732-475: The settlement grew in the early 1850s, Chinese shops opened on Sacramento St, which the Guangdong pioneers called " Tang people street" ( 唐人街 ); and the settlement became known as " Tang people town" ( 唐人埠 ), which in Cantonese is Tong Yun Fow . By the 1870s, the economic center of Chinatown moved from Sacramento St to Dupont St; e.g., in 1878, out of 423 Chinese firms in Chinatown, 121 were located on Dupont St, 60 on Sacramento St, 60 on Jackson St, and
15870-702: The site of the Chinese consulate was the property of Imperial China, it could not be reassigned by the city. On May 10, 1906, the subcommittee met with representatives from the Chinese community, the Chinese Six Companies , who said that they would either rebuild in their old Chinatown quarters or move across the bay to Oakland, where most of the Chinatown refugees had fled. Other community leaders pointed out that displaced residents may not stop to resettle in Hunters Point, moving further to other West Coast cities like Seattle or Los Angeles, taking
16008-641: The six district associations (commonly called the Chinese Six Companies, even though the number of member associations varied through the years) banded together to resolve inter-district disputes. This was made formal in 1882 and incorporated in 1901 as the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (on Stockton Street) to look after the general interest of the Chinese people living in a hostile western world. Founded purportedly in roughly 1852 or 1853,
16146-699: The streets and groundwork of San Francisco. Through a number of programs, the organization works to fulfill their mission statement of serving those that reside, work, and visit San Francisco: This branch of SFDPH is part of the Quality Improvement branch that hosts multiple programs and initiatives to promote active-living, healthy eating, and decreasing the spread of STIs , such as HIV. Many of these quality improvement projects are on-going and long-term studies that achieve success through results-based accountability. San Francisco plague of 1900%E2%80%931904 The San Francisco plague of 1900–1904
16284-433: The streets of Chinatown were allowed to leave; everybody else was forced to stay. Physicians were restricted from crossing into Chinatown to identify and help the sick. The Health Board had to approve whether or not any health official crossed into the quarantined area. Due to lack of evidence that the cause of death of King was plague, the quarantine was removed the day after to avoid controversy. Kinyoun's lab confirmed
16422-399: The surgeon general. Kinyoun desired that his reputation be restored and that his findings were valid so that he could continue to investigate plague cases. On January 26, Flexner, Novy, and Barker arrived in San Francisco. The three scientists were appointed to an official commission to prove if the plague existed. Gage reacted by sending a telegram to President William McKinley urging that
16560-555: The temple reopened in 1975, due to a resurgence of interest from a new immigrant population following the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 . Another Mazu temple, known as Ma-Tsu Temple was established in 1986 by Taiwanese American community and affiliated to Chaotian Temple in Taiwan. The Chinese Presbyterian Church on Stockton Street can trace its roots to October 1852, when Cantonese-speaking Rev. William Speer ,
16698-609: The time she arrived in San Francisco in the 1840s, Toy had a fair bit of money. Noticing the looks she drew from the men in her new town, she figured they would pay for a closer look. Her peep shows became quite successful, and she eventually became a high-priced prostitute. In 1850, Toy opened a chain of brothels at 34 and 36 Waverly Place (then called Pike Street), importing girls from China in their teens, 20s and 30s, as well as some as young as eleven years old, to work in them. Her neighbors on Pike Street—conveniently linked to San Francisco's business district by Commercial Street—included
16836-475: The wives and minor children of wealthy merchants; immigrants would purchase or partner in businesses to declare themselves merchants in order to bring their families to America. Alternatively, prospective immigrants could become " paper sons " by purchasing the identity of Americans whose citizenship had been established by birthright. However, the Exclusion Act was credited with reducing the population of
16974-578: Was about 12,000 men and fewer than ten women. Some of the early immigrants worked as mine workers or independent prospectors hoping to strike it rich during the 1849 Gold Rush . Many Chinese found jobs working for large companies seeking a source of labor, most famously as part of the Central Pacific on the Transcontinental Railroad , from 1865 to 1869. The west side of the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong, where most of
17112-464: Was accused of violating U.S. laws and breaking international agreements that required him to notify all nations that there was an existence of contagious disease. Wyman and President McKinley destroyed the credibility of the American public health in the eyes of the nation and abroad. Countering the continued denials made by San Francisco-based newspapers, reports from the Sacramento Bee and
17250-633: Was also opposed, and soon after the earthquake, Tsi Chi Chow, the first secretary of the Chinese legation in Washington, DC, arrived in San Francisco, conveying to California governor George Pardee the opposition of China's Empress Dowager Cixi to the plan. The representatives, "acting unofficially", stated "the only way to remove the Chinese from the old Chinatown would be to give them a place elsewhere that would be acceptable for their purpose, when they might be willing to move." The San Francisco Call reported it as "a vigorous protest" and noted that as
17388-487: Was an epidemic of bubonic plague centered on San Francisco 's Chinatown . It was the first plague epidemic in the continental United States . The epidemic was recognized by medical authorities in March 1900, but its existence was denied for more than two years by California's Republican governor Henry Gage . His denial was based on business reasons, to protect the reputations of San Francisco and California and to prevent
17526-409: Was done to Chinese-owned businesses. In response to the violence, the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association , also known as the Chinese Six Companies , which evolved out of the labor recruiting organizations for different areas of Guangdong, was created to provide the community with a unified voice. The heads of these companies advocated for the Chinese community to the wider business community as
17664-489: Was handled while being imported from China and Japan. Kinyoun tried to hinder these advances because he did not want to publicly admit that there was an outbreak. White made his appearance in January 1901. White and Kinyoun attended the autopsy of Chun Way Lung who was said to have suffered from gonorrhea. Wilfred Kellogg and Henry Ryfkogel conducted the autopsy and achieved respect from White by revealing that Lung had died from
17802-400: Was lifted but the burning and fumigating continued. A federal court ruled that public health officials could not close off Chinatown without any proof that Chinese Americans were anymore susceptible to plague than Anglo Americans. The Chinatown neighborhood was completely destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire that leveled most of the city. "The fire had full sway, and Chinatown, for
17940-517: Was not bubonic plague. In the newly formed US Territory of Hawaii , the city of Honolulu fell victim to the plague in December 1899. Residents of Honolulu were reporting cases of fever and swollen lymph glands forming buboes , with severe internal organ damage – quickly leading to death. Not knowing precisely how to control the spread of the disease, city health officials decided to burn infected houses. On January 20, 1900, changing winds fanned
18078-473: Was not centered in Chinatown. Cases occurred randomly throughout the city, including cases identified across the bay in Oakland . San Francisco's politicians and press reacted very differently this time, wanting the problem to be solved speedily. Health authorities worked quickly to assess and eradicate the disease. Approximately $ 2 million was spent between 1907 and 1911 to kill as many rats as possible in
18216-578: Was present. As with the findings of Kinyoun, the Treasury commission's findings were again immediately denounced by Governor Gage. Gage believed the federal government's growing presence in the matter was a gross intrusion of what he viewed as a state concern. In his retaliation, Gage denied the federal commission any use of the University of California's laboratories in Berkeley to further study
18354-506: Was quarantined, with policemen preventing "Asiatics" (people of Asian heritage) from either entering or leaving. The San Francisco Board of Health began looking for more cases of plague and began burning personal property and sanitizing buildings, streets and sewers within Chinatown. Chinese Americans protested and the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association threatened lawsuits. The quarantine
18492-436: Was renovated in 2005 and 2006 under a federal grant. As in much of San Francisco, a period of criminality existed during the late 19th century; many tongs arose, trafficking in smuggling, gambling, and prostitution. From the mid-1870s, turf battles sprang up over competing criminal enterprises. By the early 1880s, the term tong war was being popularly used to describe these periods of violence in Chinatown. At their height in
18630-492: Was the cause of Wong Chut King's death. On March 11, Kinyoun's lab presented its results. Two guinea pigs and one rat died after being exposed to samples from the first victim, proving the plague was indeed in Chinatown. Without restoring the quarantine, the Board of Health inspected every building in Chinatown, and labored to disinfect the neighborhood. Property was taken and burned if it was suspected of harboring filth. Using physical violence, policemen enforced compliance with
18768-478: Was to become an intense defamation campaign against quarantine officer Kinyoun. In response to the state's denial, Wyman recommended to federal Treasury Secretary Lyman J. Gage that he intervene. Secretary Gage agreed, creating a three-man commission of investigators who were respected medical scholars, experienced with identifying and treating the plague in China or India. The commission examined six San Francisco cases and conclusively determined that bubonic plague
18906-440: Was to first conduct English language classes and Sunday schools. In these decades, the only English classes available to Chinese immigrants were those offered by these Christian missions. Some added rescue homes (e.g., from prostitution), and social services for the sick and protection from racial discrimination. With such tactics, the early Christian missions and churches in Chinatown gained widespread respect and new converts. In
19044-409: Was written, praising the new "substantial, modern, fireproof buildings of brick and stone ... following the Oriental style of architecture" and declaring "[n]o more picturesque squalor, no more gambling dens, opium joints or public haunts of vice" would be tolerated, at the command of the Chinese Six Companies. By then, 5,000 residents had returned, of the estimated 30,000 that lived in Chinatown prior to
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