Dear Friends,
Welcome to our historic and exciting project!
The 150th Year Anniversary of the hiring of the first team of Chinese Railroad Workers that worked on the Transcontinental Railroad came in 2015. Their endurance made it possible for a young nation to undergo the drastic economic transformation that occurred when the West was connected to the eastern United States for the first time by rail. Although the majority of the labor force on the West side was from China, the Chinese workers were really not acknowledged for their hard work and losses. Not until May 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor finally honored the workers by inducting them into their Wall of Fame.
In Northern California, the Chinese Railroad Workers has nothing in the Sierra Mountains to memorialize or pay tribute to those who survived or perished in those harsh conditions. Finally after 144 years, the Placer County Historical Society placed a brief descriptive plaque on a rock in Gold Run, at the first rest stop traveling east on Interstate 80 to Reno, Nevada. This plaque is the closet marker to the rails that commemorates the sacrifice of the Chinese workers. The community thinks there should be something better built to honor and remember their sacrifices
With the 2015 Celebration happening this year, major events are being planned in Sacramento and San Francisco California. With a very aggressive timeline, our goal is to highlight the new Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial Monument with a scaled mockup design of the full size monument in November 2015. The final scaled down version will hopefully be permanently placed at a public location in San Francisco. The following years it is our hope to get the full version at the Gold Run rest stop. Ribbon Cutting Ceremony will be planned with community and family organizations, as well as local, state and federal dignitaries.
With a donation to the Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial Monument Project today, your funds will help us build something unforgettable, and for the sacrifices of the Chinese railroad workers to be memorialized for years to come. To stimulate, education, questions to be asked by future generations on who these men were and why them and not anyone else?
With best regards,
Steven Lee
Project Founder and Director
P.S. Please complete the donation form and send in with your gift that will be applied to the lasting tribute of the Chinese workers who built our nation’s first Transcontinental Railroad. Remember, your gift is tax deductible and every contribution counts!