Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Chinese Business Documents, Records, and Publications
Ms91
No online items
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Title: Chinese Business Documents, Records, and Publications
Date: 1879-1933
Collection Number: Ms91
Location:
Erickson Vault
Extent:
2 boxes
Contributing Institution:
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum
11793 North Micke Grove Road
Lodi, CA 95240
Language of Material: Records written in Chinese
Abstract: This collection includes correspondence, receipts, ledgers, and other bound volumes that afford insights into commerce among
members of California's Chinese community in San Joaquin and Yuba Counties during the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. It also contains a Chinese dictionary and a fortune telling book.
Access Information
Collection is open for research by appointment.
Conditions of Use
The library can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claimants of literary
property.
Preferred citation: [Item name], Chinese Business Documents, Records, and Publications, Ms91, San Joaquin County Historical
Society and Museum, Lodi, California.
The Chinese presence in California dates back to the eighteenth century, but not until the era of California's Gold Rush did
it include significant numbers. Overwhelmingly male and attracted by economic opportunities, those who arrived in the nineteenth
century made their most visible marks as laborers in the gold fields, on railroads, and in agriculture. Others operated businesses
that catered to the preferences of the Chinese community, which maintained its distinctiveness in the face of racism, ostricism,
and discrimination embedded in white society and the legal structure of California and the United States.
This collection is divided into three series: (1) Correspondence, Statements, and Receipts, (2) Unpublished Bound Volumes,
and (3) Publications. Written in Chinese characters, the material spans a period from 1879 to 1933 and offers insights into
activities of members of the Chinese community scattered from San Joaquin and Yuba Counties, in California, to the State of
Washington. Subjects covered in the material include grocery sales, gambling, and prostitution.
Chinese Americans--California--History--19th century.
Chinese Americans--California--History--20th century.
Chinese Americans--California--San Joaquin County--History.
Chinese Americans--California--Yuba County--History.
North San Juan (Calif.)
San Joaquin County (Calif.)--History, Local.
Stockton (Calif.)--History.
Yuba County (Calif.)--History.