'Master of None' season 3 points out Goldie Williams' defiant mug shot. Here's the real story behind her arrest.

• Goldie Williams' mug shot is featured in the season three premiere of Netflix's "Master of None."
• Alicia, who hangs the photo in her home, summarizes the sex worker's arrest on the show.
• She's referencing a real story as Williams was reportedly arrested on charges of vagrancy in 1898.

In season three of "Master of None," married couple Denise (Lena Waithe) and Alicia (Naomi Ackie) reside in an upscale country hideaway, brimming with patterned wallpaper, upholstered furniture, asymmetrical nooks, and oversized canvases.

But it's a small black-and-white mug shot in the corner of the sitting room that captures the eye of a journalist interviewing Denise, a writer struggling to churn out her second book following the success of her first, in the season premiere.

The observant journalist points to the photograph and says, "I really wanted to know about this one."

"That's actually one of my favorites," Alicia, a chemist-turned-interior designer, responds after joining in on the conversation.

She continues, "Her name is Goldie Williams. She was a sex worker in the late 1800s in Nebraska."

In the unconventional mug shot, the woman is seen crossing her arms, scrunching her nose, and pursing her lips. Midway through telling the story behind the piece, Alicia can't recall exactly why the police arrested Williams.

"Apparently, the policemen were like, 'You've got to keep a straight face.' And she was just like, 'I don't want to,'" Alicia tells the journalist, playfully acting out Williams' mannerisms as she recounts the story.

It was William's "gold hoops" and "rebellious" spirit that initially drew Alicia to the photo, she explains. And on a more personal note, the amateur antique collector says the woman slightly resembles one of her own aunts.

"So yeah, I love it," she says with a smile.

Goldie Williams was real - and that's actually her mug shot

While Alicia skirts around the details surrounding Williams' arrest on the season three premiere of "Master of None," her description of the woman in the photo is factually accurate.

Williams (also known by the name of Meg Murphy) was a real historical figure, according to History Nebraska, a state agency founded in 1878.

Police records obtained by the agency state that Williams stood at just 5 feet tall. She listed her home as Chicago and her occupation as prostitution.

Police reportedly arrested her on charges of vagrancy in Omaha, Nebraska, on January 29, 1898. Records detail that Williams had a broken index finger and a cut on her wrist when she was arrested.

Her prison ID number was 228, digits that appear on her original Omaha Police Court mug shot, and the picture Denise and Alicia have framed in their home.

Both of her names, Goldie Williams and Meg Murphy, are written in full on the piece of art featured on "Master of None."

The Netflix series, also starring Aziz Ansari and Rachel Sophia-Anthony, is airing now on the streamer.