Ellen Nowlan. Autograph Letter Signed. Berkeley, Calif., March 30, 1885. 6pp. To Mrs. R.D.Clark, South Fallsburgh, New York. Written in pencil.
A New York transplant, the writer proved that white anti-Chinese prejudice was alive, even in an academic community like Berkeley: She found the vegetables in California “inferior” in flavor to those in the East “because they are handled so much by the Chinamen. You will see Chinamen wherever you go - on the ferry or in the cars or on the street. There is one place in the city known as Chinatown…California might all be justly called Chinatown. There are many of them here in Berkeley, some selling vegetables, washing, and many going around gathering rags and old tin cans or any other rubbish they may find,,,the health officers in the city are getting alarmed about certain portions…where they are densely crowded in… if something is not done before long it may lead to some serious diseases. I think they should be compelled to live among themselves and away from others…”
Apart from the Chinese menace, Newlan had mixed feelings about life in northern California. She had come west to join her brother, who had lived in San Francisco since the Gold Rush. He had extolled the California climate, but she had suffered from a cold and sore throat from the moment of her arrival, owing, she thought, to the perpetual “cold damp fog” and chilly air. Coal was expensive and there were many “poor people” who could not afford fuel for warmth. There were many blooming flowers in the winter, but they had to be carefully cultivated, watered daily as there was so little rain and the ground was “hard as a board.” In general, she did not like San Francisco, but was very impressed by Oakland and by the “four beautiful buildings” of the state university at Berkeley..