"The Chinese 6 Companies at 843 Stockton St. Known by the Chinese as the Chung Wa Woey Koon"

This photograph shows the headquarters of the so-called Chinese Six Companies, officially known as the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, on Stockton Street in San Francisco. The Six Companies, organized in the 1850s and formally established in 1882, were an amalgamation of the six most important Chinese organizations, or "district associations," in California at the time: the Sam Yup, Yeung Wo, Kong Chow, Ning Yuen, Hop Wo, and Yan Wo. The most powerful organization in Chinatown, the Six Companies attempted to deter prostitution and encourage moral behavior in the Chinese community. The organization was authorized to speak for the Chinese community nationwide. Its Board of Directors consisted of wealthy merchants who used their political power to deal with local, state, and national governments on immigration and other issues concerning the Chinese community in America.

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