According to their website, the US Department of Labour plans to honor the estimated 12,000 Chinese labourers who worked tirelessly to build the Western half of the Transcontinental Railroad, uniting for the first time by land the east and west coasts of this country; historically, the Chinese labourers who contributed to this American accomplishment have been edited out of the history of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Writing yesterday, the US Department of Labour announced that they would be inducting Chinese workers into their Hall of Honor:
From 1865-1869, approximately 12,000 Chinese immigrants constructed the western section of the transcontinental railroad – one of the greatest engineering feats in American history. For this accomplishment, for their courage to organize in pursuit of fair wages and safe working conditions, and for the example they set for millions of Asian immigrants who followed them, the Chinese railroad workers will be inducted into our Hall of Honor on May 9.
I want to be excited, but frankly I find this to be a long overdue honour. That being said, props to the US Department of Labour for beginning the process of correcting the historic invisibility of Chinese labourers in the building of the Transcontinental Railroad.
You can RSVP to attend this induction event here, which is open to the public; it will also be live-streamed.
