AAPI Heritage Month is coming up soon, and today we’re exploring the history of a formative event in AAPI history, the building and completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

The Transcontinental Railroad was completed between 1863 and 1869. It was a longstanding American dream and a great source of pride for the country at the time. Chinese immigrants were pivotal to building the western part of the railroad. Chinese workers comprised 90% of the Central Pacific Railroad’s workforce by the end of the building period, numbering 11,000 workers. While they initially faced discrimation and were assumed to be too weak for the job, Chinese workers exceeded expectations, laying railroad tracks at a record pace (which still stands today), and successfully building microcosm communities within their workspaces that helped them stay healthy.

Stanford University historian Gordon Chang notes that Chinese workers came from many past careers, including doctors and cooks. This helped them establish an efficient division of tasks while building the railroad, with designated cooks making nutritious meals and providing safe hydration for the workers in the form of tea and doctors sourcing imported medicine. In a fascinating example of how impactful culinary culture is to daily life, Chinese workers were able to stay relatively healthy, despite often receiving the most dangerous jobs.

After completing the railroad, many workers returned home, and others stayed and started communities and families of their own. Despite their huge contributions, the history of Chinese workers on the railroad and their Irish counterparts in the Eastern part of the country remained under-appreciated. With few written records, their narratives have been challenging to recover. However, recently, archaeologists have been using material culture unearthed from railroad towns to shed light on previously unknown details. You can learn more about these recent developments through Stanford’s Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project (accessible online).

📸: Amon Carter Museum of American Art Archives, Fort Worth, Texas