Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Golden Spike Day with Photographer Corky Lee at The Seattle Public Library on May 19
release date: May 8, 2019
The Seattle Public Library, in partnership with OCA-Greater Seattle Chapter (OCA-GS) and Chinese American Citizens Alliance Seattle (CACA) will celebrate Golden Spike Day from 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, May 19 at the Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave., Level 1, Microsoft Auditorium, 206-386-4636. Join us for the discussion "Did Chinese Railroad Workers Make America Great," as well as a display of photographer Corky Lee's work.
Lee, an Asian-American photojournalist who resides in New York City, will come to Seattle after attending the Golden Spike Conference commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad's completion. He will speak about the contribution of Chinese railroad workers to the U.S.
Lee's work has documented key events in Asian-American political history. His interest in photojournalism first sparked in junior high school, when he saw a Golden Spike Day photograph commemorating the 1869 completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Lee was struck by the fact that there were no Chinese workers documented in the picture, despite the fact that thousands of them had worked and sacrificed their lives during its construction. From that moment on, Lee was devoted to making the accomplishments of Asian Pacific Americans more visible.
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Library events are free and everyone is welcome. Registration is not required. Parking is available for $8 on weekends.
OCA, formerly known as the Organization of Chinese Americans, was founded in 1973. Today, OCA is a national organization dedicated to the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans in the United States. The OCA-GS chapter was formed in 1995 and serves the greater Seattle Chinese and Asian Pacific American community.
Established in 2011, Seattle is a charter of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A.), one of the nation’s oldest civil rights organizations founded more than 100 years ago in San Francisco. The mission of the organization is to promote and protect civil rights, develop leadership in Chinese youth and provide community service.
The Library's dynamic approach to building community that enriches lives includes programming that brings people, information and ideas together to respect and embrace the well-being of the people we serve. We celebrate Seattle’s many cultures by forming strong partnerships with community organizations.