Completion of the first transcontinental railroad in May 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah helped transform America and was hailed as a great national accomplishment. The immense construction project was much more: this presentation will present a global vision of the railroad and focus on the contribution of thousands of Chinese workers. Without them, the line would not have been completed.
Gordon H. Chang is Senior Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and the Olive H. Palmer Professor in Humanities at Stanford University. He is a widely published historian and the author of numerous books and articles, including Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad (2019).
Tune in to watch on campus at overflow.byu.edu or register to attend the Zoom meeting here.
Part of Race: Myths and Realities, the Kennedy Center Winter 2021 Lecture Series