AAPI Heritage Month: Contributions to Infrastructure

May 18, 2021

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. In celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, Capitology Blog is highlighting the various contributions made by AAPI individuals in the STEM fields.

Back in 1978, President Carter signed into law Asian/Pacific American Heritage Week, with the first official week in May 1979. The week-long celebration continued annually until AAPI Heritage Month was signed into law in 1992 by president George H.W. Bush.1 

“The month of May was chosen to commemorate the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States on May 7, 1843, and to mark the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869,” according to the Asian Pacific Heritage website.

It is not widely shared in U.S. history, but the transcontinental railroad would not exist if not for the work of Chinese immigrant laborers. The transcontinental railroad united the country by rail, connecting Sacramento, California with Omaha, Nebraska, forever changing travel and the shape of the country.

“Before the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, it cost nearly $1,000 dollars to travel across the country,” shares history.com2. “After the railroad was completed, the price dropped to $150 dollars.”

The Union Pacific Railroad (UPR), coming from Nebraska, was largely made up of Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans. The Central Pacific Railroad (CPR), coming from Sacramento, was made up of Chinese immigrants.

“In January 1864, the Central Pacific hired a crew of 21 Chinese workers and hired more during that year,” shares the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project (CRWNAP)3. 

Within a year and a half, Chinese immigrants working on the transcontinental railroad for CPR were estimated at nearly 4,000. By February 1867, it was estimated that 90% of the CPR workforce was made up of Chinese immigrants.

Immigrants largely came from counties close to Hong Kong, which made for easy departure to the U.S. West Coast. Many immigrants hoped to leave behind poverty and civil unrest for work in America.

While the work on the CPR was plentiful, racism and prejudice were prevalent.

“Chinese workers were still paid less than their white counterparts, worked longer hours and had to pay for their food; the Central Pacific and Union Pacific provided white workers food without additional cost,” shares CRWNAP.

Working conditions were often dangerous on every front, from harsh winter weather to perilously hot summers, to risk of explosions, falls, and other injuries.

After a massive tunnel explosion in June 1867, resulting in the deaths of six people, including 5 Chinese immigrants, 3,000 workers coordinated a strike. In response, the workers were cut off from food and supplies. After eight days, the workers ended the strike, and although the strike demands were not met, laborers did receive a raise in pay and working conditions improved.

With scarce records, it has been difficult to estimate how many Chinese immigrants lost their lives as they worked on the railroad – numbers as low as 50 to as high as 1,000 have been mentioned. 

Working in terrible weather and under dangerous conditions, it is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 Chinese immigrants worked on the railroad that brought the two halves of the United States together.

“Many books on the railroad focus on the Big Four and the barons of the UP,” says Gordon Chang4, Stanford professor of American history and author of the book, Ghosts of Gold Mountain. “Workers, including the Irish, receive little attention. What is more, written history has marginalized the Chinese, as with all other minorities.”

Capitol Tech recognizes all of the members of the AAPI community who had such a vital role in establishing the country’s infrastructure.

Look for more posts in this series to highlight AAPI contributions to computer science, technology, aviation, and space flight.

Sources:

  1. About Asian/Pacific Heritage Month, https://asianpacificheritage.gov/about/ 
  2. Transcontinental Railroad, https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/transcontinental-railroad
  3. Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project at Stanford University, https://web.stanford.edu/group/chineserailroad/cgi-bin/website/
  4. Building the Transcontinental Railroad: How 20,000 Chinese Immigrants Made It Happen, https://www.history.com/news/transcontinental-railroad-chinese-immigrants