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Midvale Journal

2018 Golden Spike Conference

Chinese Railroad Worker Descendants present a conference to honor and remember ancestors' contributions to America

2018 Golden Spike Conference is organized by the Chinese Railroad Workers Descendants Association (CRWDA) with the support of Utah’s Chinese community. Dedicated to the brave men who completed the greatest engineering feat of the 19th Century, the conference will tell the history of Irish, Chinese and Mormon workers who united a nation by linking the country “from sea to shining sea”. The contributions of the Chinese to the building of America have been largely untold. Conference attendees will learn of two separate civil wars with millions of casualties that created at once a need for labor and the ready supply of workers eager to be able to feed their families. They will hear of cooperation between two nations separated by an ocean, but united in industry and in a strong work ethic. By the thousands, Chinese men answered the pleas of the Central Pacific Railroad for laborers. Performing some of the most dangerous work, the Chinese were integral to the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. In little more than a decade the Chinese went from building a railroad to being railroaded. The Chinese Exclusion Act, designed to eradicate all Chinese from the country, legally, but unjustly targeted a race of people as wholly undesirable. Through film presentations, discussions with scholars, descendants and historians, and a full day bus trip to the Golden Spike Reenactment celebration at Golden Spike National Historic Site in Promontory, Utah, we will promote understanding and appreciation of the sacrifices, struggles, hardships and contributions made by generations of Chinese Immigrants and Chinese Americans to the United States. A memorial ceremony honoring the Chinese workers at one of the actual camps used by the Chinese railroad workers - Chinese Arch. An authentic Chinese railroad workers lunch will also be included. We are also proud to premier an excerpt of the PBS documentary on The Chinese Exclusion Act by Ric Burns and Li Shin Yu will also be presented in addition to other films. A panel discussion will be held following each film. The public is invited to attend the conference and all workshops are free of charge, but registration is required. Register for tickets for free events on Eventbrite: http://bit.ly/2GQ7dgn by May 1, 2018. Please visit goldenspike150.org to view the entire conference program and to purchase full registration or individual paid events. 

Date & Time

Weekly on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday

May 09, 2018 through May 11, 2018

3:00PM - 10:00PM

Location

Marriott Hotels & Resorts - 75 SW Temple, Salt Lake City, UT, 84101 75 SW Temple Salt Lake City 84101 UT US

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