Pioneer S.F. Chinatown Photographs by William Henry Jackson (1843-1942)

Arnold Genthe, a German immigrant, was the best-known street photographer of Chinese public life at the end of the 19th century on the streets of Chinatown.

      William Henry Jackson (1843-1942) took some rarely seen photographs of San Francisco Chinese, who judging by their attire, were better off financially than the typical Chinese immigrant.  

Jackson's portfolio had few photographs of the Chinese. Instead, he was a pioneering prolific landscape photographer and painter of the American West even though Ansel Adams has achieved greater recognition with his photographs in Yosemite. 

"From 1870 to 1878 Jackson was the official photographer for the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. His photographs of the natural wonders of northwestern Wyoming, taken during the Hayden survey expedition of 1871, were exhibited in the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.  Members of the U.S. Congress were so impressed by Jackson’s photos that his work was one of the major factors in the congressional vote that established Yellowstone National Park in 1872."