Wyatt Earp: The Life Behind the Legend Review

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(More customer reviews)Casey Tefertiller has written a very well researched, totally fair, and engrossing book about the most famous person of the old west.
He approaches Earp's life with an open mind and captures the essence of the man without nominating him for sainthood or branding him as the next satan.
He provides the detail from Earp's early years which help shape his adult personality and actions in Dodge City and Tombstone. He does not attempt to hide the seedy side of Earp's life during those years or the fact that Earp was not above using people or events to advance his cause or personal gain.
The most important part of the book is the detailed discussion that explains the reasons for the gunfight with the Clantons and his revenge against the cowboys,for the murder of his brother, that showed Earp to be more ruthless than any outlaw of his time.
It has always amazed me that movie makers during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, dreamed up total fiction about Earp instead of using the truth. I have to credit the makers of "Wyatt Earp" and "Tombstone" for correcting this error. Both movies capture the soul of Earp in different ways.
If you are going to read one book about Wyatt Earp, this is the one to read because it is the best. If you want to read another, try "Inventing Wyatt Earp". It was written about the same time as this book and is very good.

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Picturing Chinatown: Art and Orientalism in San Francisco Review

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(More customer reviews)Don't be misled by the choice of the title. The book is not a coffeetable-type photomontage of San Francisco's Chinatown. It is certainly replete with many photographs and illustrations from Chinatown of the 19th century and early 20th century. No doubt to some readers, these will be the main attraction. Revealing in often hazy black and white the details of a vanished and important subculture of the US.
But Lee has integrated the visuals with a narrative that places the images squarely in the context of when they were taken, and of the accuracy of their representations of that culture. He analyses the photographers that took these pictures, and their motives for doing so. Several were not of Chinese ethnicity. But sought to present visuals to explain what was then a very exotic society to an average white American reader.
Aside from the contemporary photos, Lee also explains the art that came out of Chinatown in those years. The artwork shown in the book tends to be quite different from the traditional Chinese calligraphy and landscape themes. Instead, there are traces of influence by the European and American art movements of the day.

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Genthe's Photographs of San Francisco's Old Chinatown Review

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(More customer reviews)Arnold Genthe was a German doctor of philosophy who arrived in San Francisco in 1895. He was fascinated by the Chinese and used his skill as an amatuer photographer to take over 200 photos of Chinatown's "Tangrenbu" section. These are valuable photographs as they depict Chinatown as it existed before the 1906 earthquake. Tangrenbu was the home of thousands of Chinese who were forced to live in this area due to de facto segregation and deep seated prejudice by San Franciscans. The Chinese were clannish and left few written records of their lives. The 1906 disaster destroyed whatever documents which may have existed so Genthe's pictures assume an importance beyond the mere fact of depicting persons and scenes.
Chinese had been living in San Francisco as early as 1838, a full ten years before gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. Between 1838 and 1849, Chinese were men of means, generally merchants, and few in number. As San Francisco boomed with gold seekers, the city experienced a continuing shortage of workers who were needed to lay roadways, reclaim swampy land, make boots and shoes, and to perform hundreds of other tasks. Native Americans wouldn't cooperate and Mexican-Americans were investing their time in gold mining.
The solution was Chinese laborers as they had been used profitably on British colonial plantations in South America and the West Indies. Chinese merchants were employed as middlemen in the process of supplying the laborers. In a span of 30 years, hundreds of thousands of Chinese were lured onto British, American, and other western ships for the long trip across the Pacific Ocean. Conditions on these ships were often worse than on those of the African slave trade. The mortality rate ranged as high as 40%.
During the 1850s and 1860s, 80% of the Chinese in California were spread throughout the mining areas. They were principally used in large company owned mines and had little hope of holding personal mining claims. They were disliked by most independent miners because of their race and their association with the large mining interests. The Chinese miners were also subject to the Foreign Miner's Tax. As primary contributors, they accounted for 50% of California's entire state revenues from 1850 to 1870.
After the decline of mining, the building of railroads became the focus of merchant interests. Irish immigrants were hired by the Central Pacific (CP) to start construction near Sacramento but many refused the debilitating work of carving a few feet of granite daily from the Sierra Nevada mountain range. In 1865, the CP hired 50 Chinese laborers on a trial basis and told them to carve a road through the mountains.
Pleased with the results, 10,000 Chinese were hired within 3 years and drove roadbeds through and over the mountain ranges. In the severe winter of 1866, Chinese crews worked and lived underneath the snow. Avalanches were frequent and buried many Chinese workers. Two of them were found dead, buried under 50 feet of snow with shovels in their hands. An 1870 news article reported the shipment of 10 tons of bones, representing 1200 Chinese railroad workers being sent to China for burial. Chinese were into other areas of work including sewing, shoe shops, etc. By 1870, they formed one-fourth of the state's employed but only one-twelth of its population.
Discriminatory laws were passed against the Chinese including exclusion acts, Chinese children were denied access to public schools and their parents were not allowed the rights granted to U. S. citizens. Tangrenbu or "Little China" ceased to exist after the 1906 earthquake. This proved fortuitous as all immigration records were destroyed making it impossible to determine which Chinese were in the United States illegally. For these newly created citizens, America now became a home instead of a prison.
This book contains 130 of the 200 Tangrenbu photographs in existence. Many of them have never been shown and a viewing makes it clear Genthe was enchanted with the innocence of children. He tended to take photos of special occasions in Chinatown, thus the ornate costuming in many of the prints. While Genthe did retouch some photos and erase objects from others, this does not detract from his body of work despite some fault finding by John Wei Tchen.
Genthe's photos are rich with the visual details of a bustling street life and of the affection shown by the Chinese for their families. This book provides a glimpse into a time and place long past and focuses a reader's attention on the plight of a unique people. After destruction of Old Chinatown, the Chinese embraced the 20th century. Occidental ways, dress, and customs transformed Little China from a forbidden section into a San Francisco tourist attraction.
This book lacks an index and one is sorely needed. Wei Tchen's extensive text adds enjoyment to the photgraphs as he illuminates each picture with revealing and fascinating comments. He has supplied chapter notes and these are very informative. The bibliography is limited and focuses on Genthe's volume of work and 19th century photography.
This books does an excellent job of stressing the importance of the Chinese people to the present day eminence of California and to the western states of America.

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130 rare photos offer fascinating visual record of Chinatown before the great 1906 earthquake. Informative text traces history of Chinese in California.

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San Francisco's Chinatown (Images of America) Review

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Having reviewed the Mid-West cousin book "Chinese in Chicago" last year, I enjoyed the newly published "San Francisco's Chinatown". In cooperation with Chinese Historical Society of America, author Judy Yung presented a well research historical photo album showing the evolution of the oldest, largest and most famous Chinese settlement in America for over one hundred fifty years.
This book composed of four chapters with an introduction. The first chapter "Tong Yun Fow: 1848-1906" highlighted the formation of Chinatown with SF Mayor welcoming the 300 "China Boys" as early as 1850. Chinatown offered early settlers as an extended family for help, protection, jobs, food, shelter, healthcare, spiritual needs and entertainment. Page 12 showed a horse-driven cart of Wing Chun Laundry in contrast to the image of a Chinese laundryman on foot with a pole and two baskets. The city business license charged discriminatory more to walker than to rider. The picture on P.27 was about the Chee Kung Tong, (Chinese Free Masons) which was a major support of Dr. Sun Yat-sen for his revolutionary activities in America. On page 29, there were four men in the picture with three smoking opium. It was British, the opium pushers to Chinese people by waging the Opium War in early 19th Century. The picture in Chapter 2, page 57 recorded Chinatown community leaders worked with federal agents to make a public burning of opium on Washington Street 1914. Racial discrimination and language barrier limited Chinese residential choice. Congress passed the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, based on race, and it prevented Chinese labor immigration for over sixty years. This chapter pictures showed the reality of a bachelor society. Out of the 54 pictures in this chapter, only 9 included women or children. There were smuggles of girls for prostitution to America. Missionary group rescued and aided these poor victims to be productive with a few pictures.This chapter ended with two documentary pictures of 1906 earthquake and fire.
The second chapter chronicled rebuilding Chinatown after the quake and fire for further development up to 1945. The picture on Page 43 showed Grant Avenue looking north in 1910. A picture on page 50 showed Double Ten Parade 1912 celebrating the new Republic with mainly Chinese youths in western suits and ties. This chapter created the impression that Chinese women were not the weaker sex: Page 50 showed a rare photo of Portola Parade 1909 with a Chinese woman warrior Mulan, as a parade marshal on horseback, very significant in a period of racism and discrimination, page 60 showed a young Chinese women on strike for better treatment, p.73 showed a woman radio host and three women musicians 1940s, p.76 showed Rice Bowl Party solicitation for Chinese relief donations with fifty Chinese beauties, p.77 showed a dozen of Chinese women in cap and military uniform to promote war bonds. Of vital importance was the picture on p.79 with China's first lady Madam Chiang Soong Mei-ling stopover at San Francisco on American tour for support against Japanese invasion. It was her impressive, elegant and graceful address to US Congress that won the hearts and minds of Americans to support China as comrade fighters and the repeal of Chinese Exclusion Act. The photo on p.78 showed a group of Chinese young men took their enlistment oath on top of a captured Japanese submarine in Chinatown.
Chapter 3 covered Gilded Ghetto 1945-2000. Chinatown underwent changes. Bathing suit beauty contest in Chinatown started as early as 1948. Page 84 picture was a dedication ceremony honoring the 90 San Francisco Chinese Americans for their ultimate sacrifices in WW II and I, an allegiance to American freedom and democracy. The civil right movement of 1960s inspired the community with many organizations to fight for residents and recent immigrants in childcare, healthcare, language, employment, housing, senior citizen, juvenile delinquency and immigration in the series pictures on p.88 and 99. Chinese Americans were organized in peaceful demonstration to voice their concerns on P.98, 101, 102 and 117. Furthermore, P.111 picture showed two Chinese women helped register voters in American politics in 1977. This process led to great number of Chinese Americans in Federal, State, County and City positions. Chinatown was not only a stop for food but also for services and resources.
The last chapter included a collection of ten photos to summarize today Chinatown. There were a series of pictures: one on senior, one on teenagers, one with three women holding their sons to their bosoms. It was a sharp contrast to the initial Chinatown bachelor society. The Green Street Brass Band on page 121 was a funeral procession tradition. There is a paradigm shift from "falling leaves return to the root" to "falling (seeds) on ground to take root". Gold Mountain is no longer a sojourn place but permanent home now.
Chinatown is the attraction where tourists leave their hearts in the heart of San Francisco. The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire reduced Chinatown into ruins and ashes overnight. City Hall agenda of "Chinatown and Chinese Must Go" and "Confiscating Chinatown real properties" was hotly debated thereafter. Without the determination and solidarity of Chinatown businessmen, tenants and Chinese Imperial Diplomats, San Francisco Chinatown would have been moved to Hunter's Point or Telegraph Hill. A proper picture and caption would honor the diplomat elite group who organized, fought and won the respect and dignity of rebuilding Chinatown in the same site that all enjoy today. It would be helpful if the book included a time line showing the major events relating Chinese and Chinatown for quick comprehension. My recent research led to a photo, courtesy of Chinese Historical Society of America, showing Tye Leung, a renowned social worker in San Francisco, was the first Chinese-American woman to vote - eight years before 19th Amendment. It was a significant milestone. The new immigration waves of 1960s and 1980s kept Chinatown challenged. More and more Chinese-Americans participate in the mainstream especially in politics, economics, academics, medicine and Hi-Tech. New organizations for social justice, civil rights and economic equality are formed in addition to the traditional Family Associations and the Six Companies. A bilingual list of these organizations with pictures will honor their contribution and service. Besides food and gifts, Chinese culture includes Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. A section on these institutions will show the harmony of spiritual diversity.
This book is an odyssey of Chinese people who came to Gold Mountain with a dream despite the odds, hardships, language barrier, bias and discrimination. It portrayed their sacrifice, determination and survival in making a new life for themselves and their family. They labored hard and long to earn the respect and honor in the great American family. This book makes this testimonial contribution an important chapter in American history.




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San Francisco's Chinatown the oldest, largest, and most famous Chinese enclave outside of Asia is more than a tourist attraction. Since its birth in the 1850s, Chinatown has also been a residential neighborhood, business community, and cultural center for generations of Chinese Americans. This collection of vintage photographs, taken from public archives and private collections, looks beyond the facade of Chinatown to show the realities of daily life, including a community's struggle for survival against racial hostility, exclusion laws, two major earthquakes, and urban renewal. The images of ordinary people working, shopping, and socializing in Chinatown, combined with the changing streetscape, historic landmarks, and significant cultural and political events, are organized into three historical periods, providing a panoramic view of community transformation from the gold rush to the present day.

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