The collected memoirs of a 1913 San Francisco sex worker, their effect on society at the time, and where they fit in today\u2019s world.<\/b><\/p>\n
In 1913, the\u00a0San Francisco Bulletin<\/i>\u00a0published a serialized, ghostwritten memoir of a prostitute who went by Alice Smith.\u00a0A Voice from the Underworld<\/i>\u00a0detailed Alice\u2019s humble Midwestern upbringing and her struggle to find aboveboard work and candidly related the harrowing events she endured after entering \u201cthe life\u201d.<\/p>\n
While prostitute narratives had been published before, never had they been as frank in their discussion of the underworld, including topics such as abortion, police corruption, and the unwritten laws of the brothel. Throughout the series, Alice strongly criticized the society that failed her and so many other women, but, just as acutely, she longed to be welcomed back from the margins. The response to Alice\u2019s story was unprecedented: 4,000 letters poured into the\u00a0Bulletin<\/i>, many of which were written by other prostitutes ready to share their own stories; and it inspired what may have been the first sex-worker-rights protest in modern history.<\/p>\n
An introduction contextualizes\u00a0A Voice from the Underworld\u00a0<\/i>amid Progressive Era sensationalistic journalism and shifting ideas of gender roles and reveals themes in Alice\u2019s story that extend to issues facing sex workers today.<\/p>\n