On the right side of the sheet are scenes of California's Gold Rush past, including migration, prospecting, and men disembarking from a sailing ship; on the left are scenes of the state's increasingly settled present, including a stagecoach, agriculture, a public school, and a crowded steamship at a crowded dock. An incongruous elephant in the top center may be a reference to the phrase "seeing the elephant" about overcoming hardship
Alternative Title:
Past and present of California
Description:
Title from caption at bottom of image. and "11"--Upper right corner.
Print depicts Denis Kearney, a leader of the Workingmen's Party of California and an Irish immigrant active in the late 19th century who was known for his racist views about Chinese immigrants, behind bars in the San Francisco House of Correction, where Kearney was detained; a group of stereotypically drawn ethnically Chinese men mock Kearney in his cell holding various objects representing their employment, seafood, including a fish labeled "Black Friday" (after the stock market catastrophe that took place on September 24, 1869 due to gold speculation panic and initiated a state-wide depression in the 1870s), laundry, and cigars; baskets filled with fish on floor; "House of Correction, 181" on sign above prison cell door
Description:
Title from caption below image. and Other states of print in color.
Publisher:
Publ. by I.N. Choynski, antiquarian
Subject (Geographic):
California
Subject (Name):
Kearney, Denis, 1847-1907 and Workingmen's Party of California
Subject (Topic):
Chinese Americans, History, Labor policy, and Emigration and immigration
