[Unknown
Window of a Japanese Bathhouse in San Francisco After a Mob Attack, 1907
Vintage silver print
4 3/4 x 6 3/4 inches; mount 6 x 8 inches
With manuscript caption, date and various credit stamps and other notations verso.
With manuscript caption, date and various credit stamps and other notations verso.
This compelling documentary photograph, which shows the smashed window of a Japanese-owned bathhouse, speaks to racial tensions in San Francisco in the early 20th-century. The photo depicts the aftermath of...
This compelling documentary photograph, which shows the smashed window of a Japanese-owned bathhouse, speaks to racial tensions in San Francisco in the early 20th-century.
The photo depicts the aftermath of a riot which took place on May 20th, 1907, when a mob of union workers smashed the fronts of The Horseshoe Restaurant, located at 1214 Folsom Street, and The Orchid Bathhouse next store, both Japanese-owned businesses.
What is generally agreed upon is that the trouble began when two union workers spotted non-union patrons eating hamburg steak at the Horseshoe Restaurant, which was the subject of a union boycott at the time. The union and non-union men got into a row in the restaurant, when one of the Horseshoe’s cooks threw a knife at them, which hit the window. Accounts at this point diverge, but according to some witnesses after the knife hit the window one of the union men declared, “They seem to want their windows broken; let’s help them out!” The melee then spilled out into the street and eventually over to the bathhouse next door.
Y. Einmoto, the owner of the bathhouse, and on behalf of M. Nakashima, the owner of the restaurant, sued the city for failing to prevent the riot, though they had ample time to do so. In his complaint, Einmoto argued, “though having due notice of the said riot immediately after its breaking out, did not itself protect the plaintiff's property, but neglected so to do and made no effort so to do." Opinion articles were published in local papers, arguing the riot represented a larger issue of sustained, racially-motivated attacks on Japanese-owned businesses throughout the city. The manuscript caption on the back of the present photograph notes, "Caused by bitterness against Japanese." Einmoto's suit was covered nation-wide and Attorney General Charles Bonaparte sought a report on the matter at the request of Aoki Shūzō, the Japanese ambassador at the time.
The city, in turn, argued what took place was not actually a “riot” but the result of a handful of quarrelsome individuals, and that the destruction merely collateral damage from a labor dispute. In the words of Assistant City Attorney W.T. Baggett, "If a street fight starts and some of its participants enter a store, are pursued and damage is done to the store, that is not rioting. A riot is created by a maddened mob, defying law and making an onslaught against a particular object.” The lack of police on the scene, they claimed, was because they were busy covering local street car strikes.
A year later, Einmoto and Nakashima were awarded $450 in damages from the city. Much less than the $2575 they asked for, but more than the $85 dollars the city originally claimed was the cost of the damage done.
The photo depicts the aftermath of a riot which took place on May 20th, 1907, when a mob of union workers smashed the fronts of The Horseshoe Restaurant, located at 1214 Folsom Street, and The Orchid Bathhouse next store, both Japanese-owned businesses.
What is generally agreed upon is that the trouble began when two union workers spotted non-union patrons eating hamburg steak at the Horseshoe Restaurant, which was the subject of a union boycott at the time. The union and non-union men got into a row in the restaurant, when one of the Horseshoe’s cooks threw a knife at them, which hit the window. Accounts at this point diverge, but according to some witnesses after the knife hit the window one of the union men declared, “They seem to want their windows broken; let’s help them out!” The melee then spilled out into the street and eventually over to the bathhouse next door.
Y. Einmoto, the owner of the bathhouse, and on behalf of M. Nakashima, the owner of the restaurant, sued the city for failing to prevent the riot, though they had ample time to do so. In his complaint, Einmoto argued, “though having due notice of the said riot immediately after its breaking out, did not itself protect the plaintiff's property, but neglected so to do and made no effort so to do." Opinion articles were published in local papers, arguing the riot represented a larger issue of sustained, racially-motivated attacks on Japanese-owned businesses throughout the city. The manuscript caption on the back of the present photograph notes, "Caused by bitterness against Japanese." Einmoto's suit was covered nation-wide and Attorney General Charles Bonaparte sought a report on the matter at the request of Aoki Shūzō, the Japanese ambassador at the time.
The city, in turn, argued what took place was not actually a “riot” but the result of a handful of quarrelsome individuals, and that the destruction merely collateral damage from a labor dispute. In the words of Assistant City Attorney W.T. Baggett, "If a street fight starts and some of its participants enter a store, are pursued and damage is done to the store, that is not rioting. A riot is created by a maddened mob, defying law and making an onslaught against a particular object.” The lack of police on the scene, they claimed, was because they were busy covering local street car strikes.
A year later, Einmoto and Nakashima were awarded $450 in damages from the city. Much less than the $2575 they asked for, but more than the $85 dollars the city originally claimed was the cost of the damage done.