Visual Materials
Old Chinatown Blacksmith
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Chinese young ladies, Los Angeles, Chinatown
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Portrait of two women seated on carved Chinese furniture in front of a studio backdrop.
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Portrait of Chinese family, Old Chinatown, Los Angeles
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Studio portrait of a man and woman in traditional Chinese clothing, with a man in American-style clothing.
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Apablasa Street, Old Chinatown, Los Angeles
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View of a Chinese man crossing the street in front of a row of two story-brick attached buildings with balconies in the 300 block of Apablasa Street in Old Chinatown, Los Angeles, with a sign for the "Mon Chong & Co." store at 341 Apablasa Street. Some of the balconies have awnings and decorative fretwork, as well as potted plants. The headquarters of the Bing Kong Tong Society was located at 337 1/2 Apablasa Street.
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Street scenes in Old Chinatown
Visual Materials
This collection contains photographs of Los Angeles' Old Chinatown and portraits of its Chinese residents, most dating from the 1890s to the 1900s. Together there are 299 glass plate negatives ranging in size from 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 inches to 8 x 5 inches; an ornate photograph album containing 12 studio portraits of Chinese men and women; and six additional card photograph portraits. Some printed photographs have the imprints of professional photographers and a few of the glass plate negatives are credited to "Yee Photo, L.A. Cal." They may be connected to a photographer "Yee" who at one time had a studio at 510 North Los Angeles Street in Old Chinatown (see photograph Box 8 (1)). This could possibly be Wy Yee, a photographer working during the same time period. It is unclear if he took all the photographs or there was more than one photographer. There are two glass plate images of a photographer's storefront with a sign in Chinese that translates to Jinghua Photo Studio. Scenes in Old Chinatown include: street views of buildings and storefronts; Chinese and a few white people walking in the streets; the interior of a restaurant and three Chinese workers posing for the camera; two men on bicycles; the Chinese community participating in La Fiesta de las Flores parade; and other candid photographs of people in daily activities. Some buildings have store signs in English and Chinese. The majority of photographs are portraits of primarily Chinese sitters. Several are posed studio portraits of men, women, or children, wearing traditional Chinese or western clothing, with elaborate props and backdrops. Other portraits are simple head shots of Chinese men, one of which has the handwritten date "1902," the year that the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was made permanent and required Chinese residents to register and obtain immigration documents. Other photographs include: three studio images of women showing bare shoulders, a Chinese woman posing in a sailor's uniform, and white tourists posing in traditional Chinese clothing. Photographer imprints on card photographs are: Bijou Studio, James Blanchard, George Dewey, J. H. Lamson Company, Michael A. Wesner, and "Yee," who may be photographer Wy Yee, all of Los Angeles. There is one portrait of a Chinese woman by William Shew, San Francisco. The China subseries consists of copies of photographs taken in China, including landmarks and scenes of punishment. Please note that this subseries contains historical images that library users may find harmful, offensive, or inappropriate. Miscellaneous photographs include images of Native Americans and a town in the Southwest.
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Chinese merchant with abacus in Old Chinatown, Los Angeles
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Image of a Chinese man writing at a desk outside, with an abacus next to him, in Old Chinatown in Los Angeles, California.
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Old settlers picnic on grounds of residence of Margaret Collier Graham
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Group portrait in front of a residence.
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