People and bubonic plague have a long and tragic history. When health officials in San Francisco thought they discovered plague in their city's Chinatown in 1900, they responded with intrusive, controlling, and arbitrary measures that touched off a sociocultural clash still relevant today. Guenter B. Risse's history of this epidemic features the tale of desperately ill Wong Chut King, believed to be the initial person infected, and is the first to incorporate the voices of those living in Chinatown at the time. Lasting until 1904, the plague in San Francisco's Chinatown reignited racial prejudices, re-sparked efforts to remove the Chinese from their district, and created new tensions among local, state, and federal public health officials quarreling over the presence of the deadly disease. Risse's rich, nuanced narrative of the event draws from a variety of sources, including Chinese-language news reports and other accounts. He addresses the ecology of Chinatown, the approaches taken by Chinese and Western medical practitioners, and the effects of quarantine plans on Chinatown and its residents. Risse explains how the presence of plague threatened California's agricultural economy and San Francisco's leading commercial role with Asia, discusses why it brought on a wave of fear mongering that drove perceptions and intervention efforts, and describes how Chinese residents organized and successfully opposed government quarantines and evacuation plans in federal court. In probing public health interventions in the context of one of the most visible ethnic communities in United States history, Plague, Fear, and Politics in San Francisco's Chinatown offers insight into the clash of Eastern and Western cultures in a time of medical emergency.
Acknowledgments Introduction Part I: Before Plague 1. The People of Tang in San Francisco A Migrant from Taishan Framing Chinese Space Lifestyles and Governance Politics and Violence 2. Guarding Life and the Way of Death Wong's Illness and Folk Religion Cultivating Vitality Shelters and Dispensaries Corpses and Bones 3. Sanitation, Microbes, and Plague Issuing Death Certificates From Miasma to Germs Sanitation in Chinatown Third Plague Pandemic The Final Diagnosis 4. Officials, Mandarins, and the Press San Francisco and Its Health Officials The Lords of Chinatown Partner or Foe? The Governor and the State Health Board ""Warriors of Epidemics"": The Marine Hospital Service ""Playing with Ink"": Western and Chinese Journalism in San Francisco Part II: Plague 5. Early Scenes of Terror: MarchJune 1900 Roping Chinatown: First Plague Diagnosis and Quarantine New Deaths: Searches, Vaccinations, and Fear of Detention ""Wolf Doctors"" Hunt for Plague Turmoil: Another Quarantine and a Federal Lawsuit 6. The Siege Continues: JuneDecember 1900 Federal Quarantine of California: A Political Blunder Valuable Real Estate: Planning Chinatown's Removal Plague Diagnoses: A Quarrel between Experts Tarnished Image: Plague, Boxers, and Reformers 7. Plague Goes Undergroun: 1901 Expert Opinion: Adventures of a Federal Commission Persona Non Grata: The Ouster of Kinyoun Odd Bedfellows: The Federal, State, and City Cleanup Hide and Seek: Tracking Sick and Dead Chinese Residents 8. Rumors and Realities: 1902 San Francisco Stand-off: Mayor versus Health Board No Plague: ""Ostrich"" Policies under Fire Federal Officials Target People and Rats ""Beating the Tiger"": A Mandarin's Downfall 9. National Threat: 1903 Is San Francisco Infected? Health Conferences and Railroads Leaders under Pressure: A Shift in Health Policies Real Estate and the Plan to Raze Chinatown Chinese Cooperation: Joint Sanitary Inspections 10. Sanitarians Claim Victory: 1904-1905 Puppet Show: San Francisco's New Health Board Dawn of a Public Health Fraternity Targeting Rats: Poisons and Demolitions The Oriental City Project Pyrrhic Victory Epilogue Appendix: San Francisco Plague Cases Notes Index
""Risse is the first writer to be comprehensive, exploring all facets of the plague, digging into personal accounts, even using the archives of Chinese accounts and Chinese personal letters to tell their side. His treatment is successful.""
