Chinese
immigrants of the late 1800s began to operate laundries in communities all over
the United States and Canada. For over 50 years, it was one of the most common
occupations available to them. Their enterprise led to various unsuccessful
attempts of whites to limit the dominance of Chinese laundries. Eventually, it
was the arrival of home washers and dryers in the 1950s and the better career
opportunities for their children, that the Chinese laundry went the way of the
horseless carriage.
Some of the
websites listed below describe Chinese laundries in general while others focus
on a specific laundry. Many of them also document the everyday lives of Chinese
immigrants and the racial discrimination and violence they often faced.
San Francisco, California
Lee Yick Fights and Wins A Case
Taken to the U. S. Supreme Court (Yick Wo vs. Hopkins) Against 1886
Discriminatory Law Banning Chinese Laundries Because They Were in Wooden
Buildings
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/historyofus/web08/segment6_p.html
Los Angeles, California
Description of Chinese laundries,
racial discrimination, and Chinese Exclusion Act
http://www.lonelyq.com/Samples.asp
Healdsburg, California
A history of prejudice and
violence against Chinese in Healdsburg
http://www.ourhealdsburg.com/history/chinese.htm#5
Olympia, Washington
Documents the role of the laundry
in the history of the Chinese community.
http://home.earthlink.net/~thurstonhistory/olympiachinese/history.html#Laundries
Santa Cruz, California
Account of Chinese laundries and
treatment of Chinese immigrants.
http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/culdiv/golden2.shtml
New York City
Scholarly historical account of
how a union of Chinese laundry workers helped them fight discriminatory
policies favoring white-owned laundries.
http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/958_reg_print.html
Baltimore, Maryland
Chinese Laundries and the Laundry
Business in Baltimore, 1890-1920
http://www.law.umaryland.edu/chinatown/chinese1.htm
http://www.law.umaryland.edu/chinatown/image_map.gif
Bozeman, Montana
The Chinese community in Bozeman,
and how they lived and worked.
http://www.exploremag.net/pages/departments/archives/etc/etc-chinese_community.html
Chinese Laundries Across Canada
(includes a virtual tour of a reconstructed laundry)
http://www.civilization.ca/hist/phase2/mod5e.html
Toronto, Canada
Description of the history of
Chinese laundries in Canada.
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/magic/mt41.html
St. Louis, Missouri
Two brothers ran the Sam Wah
Laundry from 1922-1986.
http://www.umsl.edu/~virtualstl/phase2/1950/buildings/chineselaundry.html
http://www.scanews.com/spot/2002/may/s614/history/story.html
http://www.umsl.edu/~virtualstl/phase2/1950/events/dayatlaundry.html
Providence, Rhode Island.
Closure in 2002 of the 90 year
old Sam Sing laundry.
http://www.brown.edu/Administration/George_Street_Journal/vol26/26GSJ21g.html
London, Ontario, Canada
Documents the life of Lem Wong, a
Chinese immigrant who moved to Canada in the early 1900s and operated a laundry
and other businesses, including a restaurant.
http://www.whitepinepictures.com/seeds/i/3/sidebar.html
Hastings, Nebraska
Description of 4 Chinese
laundries in Hastings, Nebraska.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~neadams/chinese.htm
Tucson, Arizona
Laundries and the Chinese
community in Tucson, Az.
http://www.library.arizona.edu/images/chamer/laundry_041801.html
http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/promise/laundry.html
Oakland, California.
Archeological study of the
remains of a laundry at 1813 Seventh St.
http://www.thelamp.com/thesis/
