Golden Spike 150 in a California Classroom

By Winny Lin

Co-chair of South Bay Chapter

Two years ago, our South Bay Chapter heard Dr. Shelley Fisher Fishkin speak about her Stanford project: the lives and work of the thousands of Chinese laborers who provided the muscle that built the transcontinental railroad. This group of Chinese has been virtually ignored in American history. (It is with great pleasure that I noted NY Representative Grace Meng’s recent congressional resolution proposal to recognize the Chinese railroad workers and their important contribution to the growth of the United States.)

Recently during my spring break, my husband Kenny and I visited the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento and became even more enthralled by the fascinating story of an engineering marvel that changed America.  Then I happened to pick up a book from its gift shop, Ten Mile Day written and illustrated by Mary Ann Fraser.  It examines in detail the very lives of the Chinese workers who made the feat possible and  completed the final stretch of track of 10 miles in one day.  Sadly no Chinese were invited in the Gold Spike ceremony on May 10, 1969. 

Together these resources created in me a strong desire to find a way to share my newly acquired knowledge and enthusiasm with others.  The coming of the 150th anniversary and celebration on May 10 at Golden Spike National Historical Park, Utah made it even more compelling. I never really thought about going to Utah for the celebration, but perhaps I could find another way to participate.

Out of the blue came the perfect opportunity.  A very good teacher friend, Mrs. Virginia Alexanian, asked me to be her guest teacher on April 30. What could be better than this: to share a piece of important history with some young minds? Her fourth grade class has 30-plus talented and challenging students, but I have established a good relationship with them earlier this school year. They would be my captured audience! 

Thankfully Mrs. Alexanian agreed that a day devoted to the transcontinental railroad especially studying the Central Pacific built mainly by Chinese laborers would be very suitable. Besides California history is in their 4th grade core content. 

I selected four real-life individuals who could speak about the 6-year effort to build the railroad.  Each one would be portrayed by a student with a monologue:

Theodore Judah:

I am one of the finest railroad engineers of my days. For years I have been trying to tell anyone who would listen that a transcontinental railroad was possible given the necessary time, treasure and energy. The project would link East to West and unify the country.  

I made 23 trips through the Sierra Nevadas searching for an appropriate path for the railroad and I finally figured out the route. 

Leland Stanford

I am one of the Big Four that invested in building the railroad and the 8th Governor of California. I am also the one who drove the Golden Spike to join the rails connecting the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroads on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah Territory.  

With the money I made  and the land that I gained from building the railroad, I founded Stanford University.

(He considered Chinese as an inferior race in his governor’s inaugural address, but ironically at Stanford University nowadays there is a large number of Chinese descendants among the student population.)

Charles Crocker

I am also one of the Big Four that invested in building the railroad. When others did not believe Chinese could handle the job, I said, “Did they not build the Chinese wall, the biggest piece of masonry in the world?” Central Pacific hired 12,000-15,000 Chinese and we successfully beat the Union Pacific in the 10-mile race.

(I also wanted a female representative so I picked Hannah Strobridge).

Hannah Strobridge

My husband and I are the only ones to have an office and house on the train and I saw the project from the start to finish.  I even have a canary cage swinging on our front porch.

As the story was unraveled, the students became very excited from the dramatization and reenactment when Leland Stanford character drove in the golden spike(I brought a hammer and a 2-in long golden screw as props.) When they finally got to use their Chromebook to look for images and more details to create their own version of the story on their one-page graphic organizer. Several of their artwork,  thought processes, and reflections were quite amazing!

One girl looked on the internet and started copying some Chinese characters. At first, I didn’t get the association of that and our topic “Transcontinental Railroad”. Later, when she finished, I clearly saw that she had put the Chinese characters 爱 love, 信faith, 喜happiness, in a column to describe the Chinese laborers.  How appropriate!

I also gave them index cards if they wanted design a souvenir for the celebration.  One student drew a mug and another designed a locket with a golden spike in the middle. 

I feel very blessed to have shared some of the excitement and history with Mrs. Alexanian’s class!  They learned about the key players, the route over the mountains, and how Chinese were mistreated and put in danger! One of the outcomes might be a better understanding of the phrase “Justice for all!” when they say the Pledge of Allegiance each morning!