Carmen Ghirardelli

At the time of her 1847 marriage to Domingo Ghirardelli in Lima, Peru, Carmen Alvarado Martin was a young widow with an infant daughter. When Domingo sailed to California to seek his fortune in 1849, Carmen initially remained behind. But in 1853, accompanied by her daughter and the couple’s two children, Carmen joined her husband in San Francisco. The family first made its home above Ghirardelli’s confectionary on Portsmouth Square and later resided above the business’s new location on Jackson Street. In 1859 Domingo built a substantial residence in the East Bay community of Oakland, where the Ghirardelli family grew to include eight children. Although Carmen spoke no English, she settled happily in a diverse community where Spanish speakers were plentiful.

Both Carmen Ghirardelli’s photograph and that of her husband were enhanced in the studio with ink and watercolor to heighten their visual impact.