Progressive Era: 1890–1920s: Immigration Period of Restrictions
Click image to zoom in.Or view larger version. A Chinese prostitute peers out of her room onto a street in San Francisco's Chinatown. ca. 1905. Photographer unknown. Gelatin silver print. Collection of Oakland Museum of California.
The prostitute in this photo is looking out onto a street in San Francisco's Chinatown waiting for possible customers to pass by her "crib." By the time the photo was taken (around 1905), the population of Chinese women had changed dramatically. By 1900 the majority of Chinese women in America were wives, and the days when almost every female could be considered a prostitute were over.