Digital Media
The 1882 Foundation has collected videos that highlight the many histories of Chinese American contributions in the US, often overlooked in public history.
As 2019 marks the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, the Chinese American community mobilized to raise awareness of the critical contributions of Chinese laborers in the completion of this national achievement.
Even as the Chinese laborers’ role in the completion of the railroad gains national prominence, the human toll of this labor is over overlooked and undervalued. Zhi Lin’s video installation, “A Chinaman’s Chance” seeks to recognize the loss of life during the construction of the railroad.
Other videos provide more of an educational overview of the contributions of Chinese American workers in the construction of the railroad, and the need for organized commemorative efforts:
The Union Pacific honors RR Workers:
Interviews of descendants: part of the ongoing Stanford University project to find oral stories, documents, artifacts, etc from descendants of Chinese railroad workers:
Chinese Americans in Military Service
- Comments on Chinese Americans in WWII, visit : https://archive.org/details/CSPAN3_20151018_194000_Chinese_Americans_in_China_During_World_War_II
- See Kurt Lee, Uncommon Courage, Breakout at Chosen, Korean War: http://www.smithsonianchannel.com/videos/uncommon-courage-breakout-at-chosin-sneak-peek/12677