CHS Webinar: "Working on the Railroads: Chinese Labor Contractors"

On Tuesday February 8th at 5:30 pm PST, the California Historical Society (CHS) will present a webinar by Professor Sue Fawn Chung. Based on her forthcoming book, Sue Fawn Chung, professor emerita at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), discusses organizations and individuals that contracted Chinese workers for the construction of railroads throughout the American West in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Her research highlights the experiences of three Chinese American laborers who succeeded in a time of hostility and violence against Chinese people.

Chung focuses on the contract labor system, and specifically three Chinese American labor contractors for the railroads: Chung Kee (d. 1909), Lim Lip Hong (ca. 1840-1920), and Tom Ah Quin (ca. 1843-1914). Knowledgeable in English and American law, these three men arrived in the US as young boys in search of fulfilling their American dreams. Chung Kee (d. 1909) and Lim Lip Hong (ca. 1840-1920) worked on the Central Pacific, Virginia and Truckee, and Carson and Colorado railroads, while Tom Ah Quin (ca. 1843-1914) was one of the labor contractors for the California Southern. In examining their experiences, Chung hopes to correct misconceptions about the Chinese people who contributed to the settlement and economic prosperity of the American West.

Register here for the webinar.

As a short introduction to Lim Lip Hong, watch the animation video below, which is featured at the California Museum in Sacramento as part of their Gold Mountain exhibit: