Section of Letter from Hattie

Section of Letter from Hattie

Race discrimination; Immigrants; School closings

Harriet sympathizes with the Chinese immigrant population of San Francisco, who experience violence. The Chinese also resent Europeans occupying their land and express this in idioms and couplets. She is relieved that the Boarding School has closed after so many solicitors have endangered the students.

Noyes, Harriet Newell

Loose, The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection

Unpublished

Unknown

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English); chi (B) (Chinese)

Text

noyes_c_cor_667

the consequences. At the same time
I remember with shame how
the Chinese have been treated in
California . Dr Woods of the [illegible]
when he was here said we could
not possibly be treated more badly
in the streets than the Chinese are
in San Francisco where they are often
stoned + bruised as well as reviled.
They have always called us foreign
devils. foreign devil granny etc etc
but now they frequently say "[u]shat[/u]" which
means kill, "[u]tong[/u]" butcher, sometimes
[u]whish[/u] intended to represent the
sound of the imaginary knife with
which they are in thought decapitating
us, "sharpen up you knife and
kill the foreign devil" is a little
couplet which they seem to enjoy
in China thus "mo lay to shat kwai lo"
they often call us dog or foreign devil dog,
But what we mind far more
is the vulgar talk with which we are
assailed. Before I went home I had
never learned to understand any of it
and I do not suppose they used
it then as freely as now when they
are feeling so bitter towards us. It
is quite a relief down here to be
allowed to go about without such
annoyances . Two or three times
crowds of men and boys have
gathered at my day school

and have been quite rude and
insulting. Now if we were in Canton
we would not I presume go out to
visit the day schools. It is [u]such[/u]
a relief to have the Boarding
School dismissed . We have
felt so much anxiety all through
the year lest the building
should be attacked and the
girls carried off and sold
Now it is a comfort to think that
they are scattered and at home
under their parents care --
Several times we have heard that
the people on the streets were saying
it would be a good thing to attack
that building [?where were?] such a
lot of women and girls. I hope
before it comes time to reopen
the schools affairs will be more
settled otherwise I think it will
be better to defer opening the school
until we can do so without so
much anxiety . Your letter was
written soon after the [u]17th of May[/u]
To me it seems hardly possible
that eight years have passed since
then. I remember the day so well.
I think the yard must be much
improved by the changes you
have made Goodbye for this time Yr loving,
Hattie -

同时，
我羞愧地记得中国人在加利福尼亚是如何被对待的。
/
Woods 医生 【字迹模糊】 说
在旧金山，
中国人被仇恨、
殴打和扔石头，
他说，
虽然中国人不喜欢外国人，
但在中国的外国人并不像旧金山的中国人那么糟糕。
中国人一直称外国人为“洋鬼子，”
但最近他们一看到外国人，他们都说
“杀” 或者 “屠宰” 或者 “咔”
那是想象中的刀子将我们斩首的声音。
/
他们经常唱一首小歌：
“磨刀霍霍向洋鬼子”
/
/
/
他们经常叫我们 "狗" 或者 “洋鬼子狗。”
但那些甚至不是他们对我们说的最粗俗的话，
回家之前，
那样的说话我听不懂，
而且这些短语也不是经常说的，
但现在中国人对我们更反感了。
/
我很开心这里没有那样愿意欺负我的人。
/
/
每周有两三次在我的学校门前，
成群结队的男人和男孩会聚集在一起对我说粗鲁和侮辱性的事情。
/

/
在广东的话，
我不敢出去
参观走读学校。
放暑假真是一种解脱，
我们一整年都担心学校会被袭击，
女孩会被绑架和卖掉。
/
/
/
现在女孩们和他们的父母安全地回家了。
/
/
有几次我们在街上无意中听到人们说袭击学校会很好，
因为那里有太多的妇女和女孩。
/
/
/
我希望我们能在下学期开始之前解决这些问题，
或者我们应该推迟下学期直到我们解决这些问题。
/
/
/
你的上一封信是在 5 月 17 日之后不久写的，
我不敢相信我离开美国已经8年了，
我清楚地记得我离开的那天。
你修好院子做得很好，
现在看起来好多了，
现在我要说再见了，
你亲爱的，
Hattie

Letter