Promontory 1869 image - a good representation?
From: "Nicole Enriquez" bsaldana@sahousingtrust.org
My group is doing a project on the Promontory Point 1869 image. The main question is: Is this image a good representation of 1869. Why or why not? What is its significance?
—Nicole Enriquez
posted from CPRR Discussion Group at 9:02 AM
7 Comments:
Such questions are often posed as propaganda to elicit the false response that the image demonstrates that no Chinese were allowed to attend the ceremony, supposedly demonstrating racism. The truth is that while anti-Chinese sentiment was widespread in the 19th century western U.S., the Central Pacific Railroad hired and respected their Chinese labor force. Actually, Chinese were present and participated in the Ceremony laying the last rail, another photograph taken that day in 1869 shows them, and three of the eight Chinese men who actually laid the last rail lived long enough to also be in the 1919 parade held to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that occasion! The Chinese were cheered at Promontory on May 10, 1869 by the Central Pacific Railroad management. So the CPRR is a demonstration not of racism, but that economic necessity in a market economy forces people to overcome prevalent racist attitudes.
For a description of the events portrayed in A.J. Russell's famous photograph, see Driving the Last Spike at Promontory, 1869 by J. N. Bowman.
The correct location is Promontory Summit, not Promontory Point, but don't feel bad about this common mistake as the newspaper reports in 1869 often made the same error.
From: kylewyatt@aol.com
First, it depends which image you are thinking of - there were many taken by three different photographers that day.
Second, technically the location is Promontory Summit, or just Promontory. The actual Promontory point sticks into the Great Salt Lake some distance south of the golden spike location. When the southern Pacific built the Lucin Cutoff in 1904, they actually reached Promontory Point, and had a station of that name there.
If you are thinking of the famous photo by A. J. Russell of the two locomotives face to face, it was technically taken AFTER the ceremony was over – with most of the railroad officers having adjourned to private cars for toasts and celebrations. That said, certainly that view could represent 1869.
—Kyle Wyatt
So the famous A.J. Russell photograph could not include the Chinese workers photographed earlier participating in the joining of the rails ceremony because at the moment the famous photo was being taken it was after the conclusion of the ceremony and the Chinese workers were away from the two locomotives to dine at J.H. Strobridge's boarding car, being honored and cheered by the CPRR management.
Copy of request for correction sent to the Taipei Times:
Please correct the misinformation in Catherine Shu's article ART JOURNAL: Chinese laborers hidden in plain sight as the article's premise is wrong that "A famous photo taken that day captures railroad executives surrounded by a host of workers. But there is a notable absence. The faces of the Chinese laborers who constituted the majority of the workforce of the Central Pacific Railroad’s line that snaked east from California are missing."
The famous A.J. Russell photograph of the completion of the U.S. First Transcontinental Railroad could not include the Chinese workers photographed earlier participating in the joining of the rails ceremony because at the moment the famous photo was being taken it was after the conclusion of the ceremony and the Chinese workers were away from the two locomotives to dine at J.H. Strobridge's boarding car, being honored and cheered by the CPRR management. See the historical documentation.
See, caution to students.
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