Yick Wo

Yick Wo (Yick Wo v. Hopkins 1886)

Yick Wo Elementary School (2245 Jones Street, San Francisco)

Yick Wo is the name of a laundry owned by Lee Yick located on 349 Third Street in San Francisco. Lee Yick left a farming area in Canton to immigrate to the United States in 1861. He opened his business in 1863 and ran it for twenty-two years. The Board of Fire Wardens and Health Department approved Yick Wo Laundry to be safe and satisfactory in 1884. However, on August 22, 1885, Lee Yick was jailed for refusing to pay the $10 fine for operating without a license. The case went up to the US Supreme Court which ruled on May 10, 1885, that the SF law was prejudicial against the Chinese and an infringement of the Equal Protection Clause in the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.

(Drawing by Perla Solano Aceves, SFSU 2020)