Woman With A Message

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March 13, 1912

From 8-year old Hilda’s diary:

Every day is the same. Sancha calls for me at school and takes me to the butcher shop. It is full of horrible bloody cows cut in half and hanging from the ceiling on big hooks. Sancha puts me on a stool and gives me books to look at then she goes upstairs with the young man. When we leave, we go over to the park for a few minutes so if Grandmother asks me if we had been to the park, I can say yes, and everyday Sancha tells me that if I ever say where I was, they will cut me in half just like those cows and hang me from the ceiling. Of course I don’t think they would but just the same I am afraid to tell.

Undated photo of the Marion Silva Meat Department at the Crystal Palace Market, courtesy of the SAN FRANCISCO HISTORY CENTER, SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY