Chinese Railroad Workers in North America
VIEW EVENT DETAILSEvening presentation by Professor Shelley Fishkin, Director of American Studies, Stanford University
Drinks reception: 6:30 pm
Presentation: 7:00 pm
Close: 8:00 pm
2015 will be the 150th anniversary of the introduction of Chinese workers on the transcontinental railroad — a project that spanned the United States The labor of these Chinese workers who eventually numbered between 10,000 and 15,000 at any one moment, was central to creating the wealth that allowed Leland Stanford to found Stanford University. The Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project was created by scholars at Stanford University to give a voice to the thousands of Chinese migrants whose labor helped to shape the physical and social landscape of the American West and China. Join us as we discover the history of these people through photographs, writings, and oral histories.
Professor Shelley Fisher Fishkin is the Joseph S. Atha Professor of Humanities and Director of American Studies at Stanford University. She has taught there since 2003, and is the author, editor or co-editor of over 40 books. Many of her pieces have focused on issues of race and racism in America, and on recovering previously silenced voices from the past. She is a Past President of the American Studies Association, Past Chair of the Nonfiction Prose Division of the Modern Language Association, and a Founding Editor of the Journal of Transnational American Studies.
Co-presented with Stanford Club & Stanford GSB Chapter of Hong Kong