Finding Aid to the Trina Robbins Forbidden City collection, 1940-2009, SFH 80
Finding aid written by Tami J. Suzuki.
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
May 2022
Contributing Institution:
San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library
Title: Trina Robbins
Forbidden City collection
Date (inclusive): 1940-2009
Date (bulk): 2006-2008
Collection Identifier: SFH 80
Creator:
Robbins, Trina
Physical Description:
3 folders, 17 audio cassette tapes, and 5 computer discs
(1 manuscripts box)
Abstract: Research materials for Robbins' book,
Forbidden City: The Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs.
Physical Location: The collection is stored on site.
Language of Material: Collection materials are in English.
The collection is available for use during San Francisco History Center hours.
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the City Archivist. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the San Francisco Public Library as the owner of the physical items.
[Identification of item], Trina Robbins
Forbidden City
Collection (SFH 80), San Francisco History Center, San Francisco Public Library.
Donated by Trina Robbins in 2011.
Trina Robbins is a writer of books and comics. While taking a tap dancing class from Tony Wing, she met a group of women and
discovered the untold story of San Francisco's Chinatown nightclubs of the late 1930s to the late 1960s, and the talented
Asian American singers and dancers who performed in them.
Research materials for Robbins' book,
Forbidden City: The Golden Age of Chinese Nightclubs.
Includes press clippings, flyers and programs, recorded interviews, and interview transcripts. Original photographs are not
included. Entertainers featured include Dorothy Toy Fong, Jadin Wong (interviewed in 1984 by her brother, Wally Wong), and
Charlie Low (by another interviewer in 1982). Robbins' interviews, conducted from 2006 to 2008, were published in the book
with minimal editing.
Existence of Original Photographs
The author borrowed photographs and ephemera from the artists interviewed and their families.
Transcripts of interviews, with the exception of those of Charlie Low and Jimmy Borges, are included.
The San Francisco Public Library hosted an exhibition related to the publication of the book (April 10-June 12, 2010). A number
of photographs and other ephemera were borrowed from the artists and their families.
The collection includes audio cassettes, CD-Rs with audio, and a CD-R and CD-RWs with text.
Processed by Tami J. Suzuki in 2014.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Robbins, Trina -- Archives.
Chinese Americans -- California -- San Francisco -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.
Nightclubs -- California -- San Francisco -- History -- 20th century.
Chinese Americans -- California -- San Francisco -- Biography.
Entertainers -- California -- San Francisco -- Biography.
Chinatown (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Biography.
Chinatown (San Francisco, Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century.
San Francisco (Calif.) -- Biography.