There’s a photo from the California Historical Society’s North Baker Research Library that has fascinated me for years. It’s the page of an immigration officer’s journal from 1894. Stationed in Downieville, California, D.D. Beatty took photographs of nearly every Chinese resident in the city and noted their name, age, “identifying marks,” and other details as part of his work as an inspector for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration. The Geary Act of 1892 required all Chinese immigrants to register with the U.S. government (a long-forgotten precursor to the “Muslim registry,” or National Security Entry-Exit Registration System put into place after 9/11), and Beatty apparently used this journal to keep track of the Chinese immigrants in his jurisdiction. The faces of three women and one men stare out from their passport-size mugshots. Beatty’s careful cursive appears alongside. An older woman is identified as Ung Gook, or “China Susie.” At the time of the entry, she was 55 years old and noted as as “housekeeper.” Beatty found “no marks” on her face. An additional note was added in 1900: “Gone to China for good.”