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Category: Asian American History

A color photograph of a contemporary street scene in Chinatown, San Francisco. Signs with Chinese characters are on the building and marquees, the biggest of which is for Canton Bazaar. A couple dozen red paper lanterns hang on wires that cross the street

Research Inspired by Fiction and Fiction Inspired by Research: Exploring San Francisco’s Historic Chinatown

Posted by: Alli Hartley-Kong

Ever since I started working at the Library of Congress, I always pull up loc.gov/collections when I’m reading historical fiction to find relevant real-life photographs, newspapers, and documents. Recently, I read Malinda Lo’s Young Adult historical fiction novel Last Night at the Telegraph Club. The story follows Lily, a Chinese-American teenager living in San Francisco …