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Submit ReviewOn this day in 1871, the Great Chicago Fire swept through the city after starting, from unknown causes, the previous evening. The fire, and subsequent rebuild, shaped the city that exists today. But the new city had no room for many poorer Chicagoans.
Residents of San Francisco's Chinatown faced similar economic and political pressure as their own city recovered from the 1906 earthquake and resulting fires. But the city's Chinese community fought back, building a new, thriving Chinatown from the ashes.
Image: An artist's rendering of the Great Chicago Fire, Chicago in Flames -- The Rush for Lives Over Randolph Street Bridge. Originally from Harper's Weekly, 1871.
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In this segment from BackStory’s 2015 show, “Where There's Smoke: A History of Fire,” host emeritus Peter Onuf presents a story by reporter Chelsea Davis about how San Francisco’s thriving Chinatown emerged from the ashes of the 1906 Earthquake and the fires that followed, despite efforts to suppress it.
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