Ivy Anderson – författare

In 1913 the San Francisco Bulletin published a serialized, ghostwritten memoir of a prostitute who went by the moniker Alice Smith. “A Voice from the Underworld” detailed Alice's humble Midwestern upbringing and her struggle to find aboveboard work, and candidly related the harrowing events she endured after entering “the life.” 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's story was unprecedented: four thousand letters poured into the Bulletin, 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. For the first time in print since 1913, Alice: Memoirs of a Barbary Coast Prostitute presents the memoirs of Alice Smith and a selection of letters responding to her story. An introduction contextualizes “A Voice from the Underworld” amid Progressive Era sensationalistic journalism and shifting ideas of gender roles, and reveals themes in Alice's story that extend to issues facing sex workers today.

"Exciting and full of insight." —Ottessa MoshfeghThe collected memoirs of a 1913 San Francisco sex worker, their effect on society at the time, and where they fit in today's world.Winner of the 2015 California Historical Society Book AwardIn 1913 the San Francisco Bulletin published a serialized, ghostwritten memoir of a prostitute who went by the moniker Alice Smith. "A Voice from the Underworld" detailed Alice's humble Midwestern upbringing and her struggle to find aboveboard work, and it candidly related the harrowing events she endured after entering "the life." Never had prostitute narratives been as frank in their discussion of topics such as abortion, police corruption, and the unwritten laws of the brothel. The response to Alice's story was unprecedented: Four thousand letters poured into the Bulletin, 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.With Alice, filmmakers and writers Ivy Anderson and Devon Angus present the memoirs of Alice Smith and a selection of letters her story elicited. In an introduction contextualizing Alice's story, they reveal themes that extend from Alice's experience in the early twentieth century to issues facing sex workers today. This edition features a new preface detailing the discoveries made about this history since the book's original publication in 2016.