21-05-2025
Families remember Chinese immigrant railroad workers
NEW YORK (PIX11) — Railroads and infrastructure help shape a city and a country. Chinese immigrants had an important role in the creation of the first railroad across the United States.
But some of their family members say their contributions have been forgotten.
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The first Transcontinental Railroad was finished officially in 1869, and it connected the western and eastern United States.
Joseph Luo from Brooklyn can trace his family back five generations to a great-great-great-grandfather who worked on the project.
He has copies of letters and pictures that reveal more of the history and emotional aspects of the construction.
He says his grandma in China first told him about the connection to the Chinese immigrants who built the first railroad connecting the U.S.
'The documents show they worked in hard and dangerous conditions to build the railroad,' Luo said.
More than 12,000 Chinese immigrants are believed to have been among the crews working on the giant project that began from both an eastern and western front.
Luo is involved with the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association.
The Chinese immigrants were essential to the completion of the work through the mountains of the West. The group is working to shine a light on the depth of the immigrants' stories.
They were laid less for more work in dangerous conditions. The association has created a mobile exhibit.
When the tracks met in Utah, workers and officials appeared in famous pictures. The Chinese crews are not a part of the showcase.
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Michael Lee is the director of the Museum of Chinese in America on Centre Street in Chinatown.
'Either they were done with their work, or they weren't invited to the celebration. You can see how history is written through a single image,' he said, pointing at a famous image.
The museum features an area on labor and construction.
Stanley Ng is a Chinese American who wants to help educate more people. He says it also refocused the narrative on discrimination. and unfair practices.
'The story has been passed down. They were here all alone. No family. They were motivated to make money and send it back home,' he said.
William Colton is A New York State Assemblymember representing Brooklyn.
'We want to help people learn and credit them for the family history. That brings us together. It's what the American dream is really all about,' Colton said.
The family association is working with the state of New York to bring presentations to museums, schools, and the New York State Fair.
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