MAY 15TH, 2015
SACRAMENTO, CA – A special committee of community leaders, led by Celebration Co-hosts C.C. Yin Founder of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) and Margaret Wong, President/CEO of the California Center, has been formed to commemorate the 150th Anniversary Celebration Commemorating Chinese Building of the U.S. Transcontinental Railroad. The Opening Gala Celebration was held on Friday, May 15th, 2015 at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, California to honor the thousands of Chinese immigrants who helped build our nation’s first transcontinental railroad and as a result helped to shape our nation’s history.
Between 1865 and 1869, thousands of Chinese immigrant laborers toiled at a grueling pace and in perilous working conditions to help construct the world’s very first transcontinental railroad. Without Chinese workers, it would have been impossible to complete this historic expansion effort that played a major role in building America. The Chinese laborers worked through natural disasters, wars, and a changing transportation industry, but never received the full attention and credit that they deserved – until now!
“It is an honor to work with so many of our state’s community leaders to finally pay a proper tribute to the countless Chinese workers, many of whom gave their lives, to help build the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. – forever changing the shape of progress and industry in our great nation,” said C.C. Yin, Founder of APAPA and Co-host.
A significant part of the celebration included the promotion and release of a documentary film which details the story of Chinese immigrants and their involvement in the building of the railroads. Over the last 10 years, the special documentary film crew for “The Silent Spike,” by Shandong TV & Media Group has been to America dozens of times. They visited numerous historical sites and museums along the pacific railroad to gather information on the Chinese workers. They visited the University of California, Berkeley; Stanford University, University of Reno, the Chinese Historical Society of America and other relevant agencies doing research. The group also interviewed more than 70 experts in history, business, political officials, the descendants of laborers, as well as several small historical town residents. They collected volumes of important historic information about the Chinese railroad workers and plan to share that wealth of gathered history, to help celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the workers during this series of special events.
During the Opening Gala, Professor Xuejun Yang from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts exhibited his Sculpture The Trailblazer, one of a series sculptures he has been working on since 2010 to commemorate the great contributions Chinese immigrants made to build the U.S. railroad. More information about Professor Yang can be found at http://yangxuejun.artron.net/ .
For more details about the events and history, visit: www.railroad150.com