The Chinese Workers Who Built America's Railroad

Guest: Gordon H. Chang, Professor of American History, Stanford University, Author of “Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad” The Transcontinental railroad was a triumph of American grit and ingenuity when it was completed 150 years ago. But the work was done largely by immigrant workers –and the most technically difficult stretches of rail through the Sierra Nevada mountains were laid by workers from China. Those workers, however, were almost invisible at the grand Golden Spike ceremony commemorating the railroad’s completion in 1869.