Historical Portrait
Ling Joe and son Yow Joe
Archive record
Public-domain 1909 historical photograph of Ling Joe and his son Yow Joe, Chinese Americans photographed in San Francisco. Yow Joe later became a professional dancer.
About this photograph
The archive record identifies this 1909 photograph as showing Ling Joe and his son Yow Joe, Chinese Americans photographed in San Francisco. The caption notes that Yow Joe later became a professional dancer.
The photograph comes from Tulare County Library's local history collection. Tulare County sits in California's San Joaquin Valley, a farming region that developed rapidly in the late nineteenth century through irrigated agriculture. The library's photograph holdings focus largely on ordinary residents, families, schools and local businesses rather than public figures.
The image was made available through California Revealed, a statewide programme that digitises material from California libraries, archives, museums and historical societies. Because the programme draws on many separate local institutions across the state, the presence of this shared source tag indicates where the photograph was digitised rather than necessarily where it was taken.
The date places this portrait within a period when roughly twenty million people arrived in the United States, most from southern and eastern Europe. Studio portraits from these decades often served specific purposes for immigrant families, made either at home to leave with relatives or soon after arrival to send back as proof of safe passage and employment.
Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.
Rights & Attribution
Explore
More from the 1900s
