Event box

Remembering the Chinese Railroad Workers

Presented by:
Weihua Zhang, English Professor, Savannah College of Art and Design

May 10, 2019 marks the 150th anniversary of the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Between 1863-1869, some 120,000 Chinese railroad workers, recruited by the Central Pacific Railroad Company in California, helped construct 690 miles of railroad from Sacramento, California to Promontory Summit, Utah Territory. Faced with harsh working conditions, severe weather, homesickness, racial discrimination, injuries and deaths, the Chinese railroad workers had set one record after another, and worked themselves into history books.

Professor Zhang will give a talk on the historical importance of the railroad, as it opened up the country's western frontier, and the contributions made by Chinese railroad workers. She will present photographs from research travels as well as archival images and documents. There will also be a Q&A session.

Date:
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Time:
5:15PM - 6:15PM
Room:
Bull Street Library Auditorium
Location:
Bull Street Library
Audience:
  Adult  
Categories:
  Author Visit     History