Chinese Servants in the West: Florence Baillie-Grohman's "The Yellow and White Agony."

Edited, and with an introduction, by Terry Abraham. The nineteenth century West Coast labor shortage, exacerbated by the pull of the gold fields, was as acute on the domestic front as on the commercial. Chinese laborers were recruited to fill the positions of cook, houseboy, "parlormaid," and "housemaid." Far from being stereotypical, the Chinese servant was much more complex, both individually and within the context of a broader social hierarchy. Many of the negative attributions assigned to Chinese domestics were, in fact, commonly applied to others, of different races or sexes, who found themselves in or were forced into the servant role. One account in particular, that of Florence Nickalls Baillie-Grohman, provides an unparalleled first-hand story of individual Chinese servants and their "Missus."
Asian American Comparative Collection Research Report, No. 2, 2007. Series Editor, Priscilla Wegars. Moscow, ID: University of Idaho Asian American Comparative Collection.
Pb, 65 pages, two photos, notes, bibliography, index.
From AACC.
All proceeds benefit the AACC.