Telling HerStory: Women of Chinatown

Join us for a conversation with Julia Flynn Siler, author of “The White Devil’s Daughters: The Women Who Fought Slavery in San Francisco’s Chinatown”. The book is a revelatory history of the trafficking of young Asian girls that flourished in San Francisco during the first century of Chinese immigration (1848-1943) and the “safe house” on the edge of Chinatown that became a refuge for those seeking their freedom. Originally known as the Occidental Mission House, it is now known as Cameron House, home to a thriving social services agency for San Francisco’s Chinatown.  

From 1874, the Mission served as a gateway to freedom for thousands of enslaved and vulnerable Chinese women and girls. Siler tells the story of both the abolitionists, who challenged the anti-Chinese prejudices of the time, and the young women who dared to flee their fate. She uncovered the stories of many of the girls and young women who came to the Mission and the lives they later led, sometimes being part of the home’s staff themselves.

In a conversation with Cynthia Lim, current Vice President of CFHG, Siler will share her extensive research process and offer advice on how to start writing family stories. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about a fascinating slice of Chinese American History. We will have a Q&A session, where the audience can send in questions. We will also have a book giveaway but you will have to be registered and present to win.

Julia Flynn Siler is a New York Times best-selling author and journalist. Her most recent book, The White Devil’s Daughters: The Women Who Fought Slavery in San Francisco’s Chinatown, was a New York Times Editors’ Choice and a nonfiction finalist for the California Book Award. Her other books are The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty, a finalist for a James Beard Award and a Gerald Loeb Award for distinguished reporting, and Lost Kingdom: Hawaii’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America’s First Imperial Adventure. She is a regular contributor to The Wall Street Journal books section and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle. www.juliaflynnsiler.com