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China Joe (1973)

Woodcut
Dale DeArmond
Unlimited Edition
Unknown proofs were produced

Print size: 14" x 18"
Image size: 11 ½" x 13 ½"

Illustrated in the book Juneau: A Book of Woodcuts.

Editor's note: Lee Hing (1834-1917), known later by local miners in Juneau as China Joe, had come to San Francisco at the age of 18 to work alongside other Chinese immigrants connecting the Central Pacific Railway with the Union Pacific Railway. When construction came to a close, rather than face abuse and prejudice (as many of his people experienced) he sacrificed all the earnings he had and purchased a ticket north to Alaska. He'd heard that his countrymen fared better there. Source: LitSite Alaska.

In 1886 the long-resented Chinese laborers were forcibly run out of town by some of the local hot-heads. The expulsion of the Chinese residents from Juneau, Douglas and Treadwell had one exception; China Joe, a Chinese baker who had shared his food and flour with many a hungry miner in the Cassiar when food was scarce during a starvation winter.

Original price: $30.00