This is a work of historical fiction, which describes the life of a spirited young Chinese woman in 1890’s Atlanta. As you might expect, since she is not White, she faces basically the same discrimination as the African Americans she works with. At the start of the novel, she is employed at a millinery shop, and throughout the novel, she uses these skills, as well as others, to make a living. She is self-taught in most of her abilities, although her guardian, Old Gin, and a succession of “uncles” that briefly lived with them, have taught her many skills and life lessons as well. Including, as it turns out, how to ride a horse.
The novel is called “The Downstairs Girl’ because Jo and Old Gin live in what was once a part of the Underground Railroad. So, their home is literally underground; specifically, under the house of the publishers of one of Atlanta’s newspapers. The homeowners are completely unaware of their presence, and Jo and Old Gin work hard to keep it that way. But Jo is able to listen to the family while they are in the print shop of their newspaper, and she uses the knowledge she acquires by eavesdropping to her advantage. Both as a means of learning about the country and society she lives in, and also about language and how to use it.
What was a Chinese girl doing in Atlanta, of all places? Apparently, during Reconstruction, Chinese laborers were brought in as an attempt to replace the former slaves, who were now expecting to be paid for their labor. Turned out, the Chinese wanted to be treated fairly, too. So, while some stayed in the South, many moved to other parts of the country, just to find work. After the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, Chinese men could not bring over wives. Some may have returned to China, but a few stayed on.
If this was your family, how would you research them? It would be hard to track someone as far under the radar as the main characters depicted in this novel. Since for most of the late 1800’s, they were not living in an actual house, the census would have missed them completely. They did not own enough to need to pay taxes on anything, and would have tried to avoid doing anything that would have gotten their names in the newspapers. You might only be able to find them in cemetery records, or possibly church records, if they attended one.