"Forgotten: Chinese Migrants Connect East West" is a mostly forgotten history, chronicling the story of the thousands of Chinese migrant workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad that connected east to west across the treacherous terrain of the Sierra Nevada. Many lost their lives to accidents, avalanches, and explosions in the unrelenting Sierra terrain near Donner Summit.
Chinese immigrants had been coming to California before there was a railroad to be built. Many Chinese people undertook the long, perilous journey across the world to find their fortunes in the California gold rush. They landed at San Francisco, "The Old Gold Mountain", and found their way into mining camps and settlements.
In one of the most famous photographs of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, workers, bosses, politicians, and businessmen shake hands in celebration. There are no Chinese workers in the photo. Essentially erased. Yet, when the Transcontinental Railroad was complete, Chinese laborers made up over 90 percent of Central Pacific's workforce.
With my diptych "Forgotten: Chinese Migrants Connect East West", I am happy to add my impression of the contribution of these bravcew men, who in the face of fierce opposition, segregation, racism and great public ostracization, helped create what is to this day, a major pathway for the goods and services we enjoy daily, to continue to flow over the glorious Sierra Nevadas.
xiè xie (Thank You)
Chinese immigrants had been coming to California before there was a railroad to be built. Many Chinese people undertook the long, perilous journey across the world to find their fortunes in the California gold rush. They landed at San Francisco, "The Old Gold Mountain", and found their way into mining camps and settlements.
In one of the most famous photographs of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, workers, bosses, politicians, and businessmen shake hands in celebration. There are no Chinese workers in the photo. Essentially erased. Yet, when the Transcontinental Railroad was complete, Chinese laborers made up over 90 percent of Central Pacific's workforce.
With my diptych "Forgotten: Chinese Migrants Connect East West", I am happy to add my impression of the contribution of these bravcew men, who in the face of fierce opposition, segregation, racism and great public ostracization, helped create what is to this day, a major pathway for the goods and services we enjoy daily, to continue to flow over the glorious Sierra Nevadas.
xiè xie (Thank You)