Clio Logo
This is a contributing entry for 1885 Chinese Expulsion: Places & People and only appears as part of that tour.Learn More.

Committee of Fifteen

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

"The anti-Chinese Committee of Fifteen, an unelected group of white men, were appointed to carry out the ethnic cleansing the town's people desired. Days before the expulsion the city made the Committee a permanent sitting body, ensuring the exclusion of the Chinese would continue. Between 1885 and 1895 the Committee impacted the growth of Tacoma and continued the exclusion of the Chinese by their interference in elections, confronting the Chamber of Commerce and mayor, and denying the basic rights of citizens."

Images

Committee of Fifteen

Committee of Fifteen

William Jackson Photography Studio (1888)

William Jackson Photography Studio (1888)

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

A photograph of the Committee of Fifteen was taken in 1885 by photographer William P. Jackson. His photography studio was located at 1101 Pacific Avenue according to the 1888 City Directory. The studio's large windows seen in the 1888 photo of the building provided the natural lighting for the photo of the Fifteen.

The names of the individuals are listed below the photo. The full names are:

  1. Adelbert U. Mills
  2. Meyer Kaufman
  3. Eli G. Bacon
  4. John Budlong
  5. Jacob Ralph
  6. H.A. Stevens
  7. James Wickersham
  8. Charles Johnson
  9. John Forbes
  10. Marion F. Brown
  11. Henry S. Bixler
  12. John A. McGoldrick
  13. William Christie
  14. Dolphus B. Hannah.

Photographer, William P. Jackson, 1885.

Sources

Gorman, Dusty. The Committee Continues: Tacoma's Anti-Chinese Committee of Fifteen, 1885-1895. Sound Ideas. Published May 19th 2019.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Washington State Historical Society Collections (Catalog ID: 2004.0.593)

Tacoma-Pierce County Buildings Index (BU-12012)

Additional Information