Genthe, Arnold. "San Francisco's Chinatown" in American Heritage, December 1978, 36-47.

Well illustrated article by Maxine Hong Kingston about Chinatown in the early 1900s as compared to how it was in the 1970s.  She considers the candid street photographs by the famous Arnold Genthe, who published two books on this subject.  Entire issue, hardcover, not issued with dust jacket, illustrated boards, fine.

Arnold Genthe (1869–1942) was a German-born American photographer, scholar, and Pictorialist pioneer celebrated for his expressive portraiture and historic street photography. Born in Berlin and holding a doctorate in classical philology from the University of Jena, Genthe emigrated to San Francisco in 1895, where he taught himself photography and established a successful portrait studio catering to high society, prominent artists, and political figures like Theodore Roosevelt. He is best remembered for his groundbreaking, candid documentation of San Francisco's Chinatown between 1895 and 1906; carrying a hidden camera into the neighborhood, he captured intimate daily scenes of children, merchants, and residents, creating the only substantial visual record of the vibrant enclave prior to its total destruction in the 1906 earthquake and fire. Genthe also made invaluable, heroic photographic records of the 1906 disaster itself, later moving to New York City where he continued to innovate in dance photography and early autochrome color techniques, establishing a lasting legacy as one of early 20th-century America's most versatile visual chroniclers.