LOS ANGELES Next year marks the 150th anniversary of when large numbers of Chinese started working on the transcontinental railroad in the United States. Very little is known about these workers lives and what happened to them after the construction ended. Stanford University is working on a project to piece together the lives of the Chinese railroad workers by reaching out to their descendants.
Desperation and courage could very well describe what led Bill Yees ancestors to come to the United States from southern China, and they became a part of key moments in American history.
I dont think I could do it to come to a strange country and dont know a word of English. But I guess its between eating or starving. I guess you have to do what you have to do for your family, said Yee.
My great-great-grandfather came over during the gold rush days and he returned back to China as a wealthy man. My great-grandfather came over to work on the railroad. He came over to work with black gunpowder, black powder on the railroad and he died working on the railroad, said Yee.
But that didnt stop his grandfather from coming to the U.S. on false papers. He ran a laundry and Yees father continued that business.
Things were pretty bad in some parts of China at that time. They came to America at all costs, Yee said.
Shelley Fisher Fishkin wants to hear stories like Yees.
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