50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 598 Chinese Laborers
Sun Zhiwei naturally wouldn't neglect his wife's first book, so he specially invited Eric Foner, a history professor at Columbia University, to write the preface.

Eric Foner is one of the most influential historians in contemporary America, and he has written extensively on American history.

He has served as a professor of American history at world-renowned universities such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, Moscow State University, and Hebrew University.

With Eric Foner's endorsement, Tong Jiajia's first book will be recognized by the historical community.

That background alone wasn't enough; Sun Zhiwei also approached Random House to provide a proposal for the publication of his new book.

The United States is a money-driven society. Tong Jiajia was previously unknown, and if she wanted her first book to receive a huge response, she would have to invest a lot of resources in promotion.

Normally, Random House wouldn't take such a risk for a new author, but if someone is willing to pay, that's a different story.

Of course, money alone isn't enough; the books also can't be too rubbish, or it will damage Random House's reputation.

After analyzing the new book, Random House found that Tong Jiajia's new book is rich in information and its content is likely to resonate with the public and generate public opinion.

Even without Sun Zhiwei's funding, this was a good book with the potential to be a bestseller, so the collaboration was quickly reached.

In September, the book "Pacific Railroad" was featured on Random House's promotional platform.

As expected, the book immediately attracted widespread social attention upon publication, and its sales soared.

Driven by profit, Random House began to cooperate actively, and Tong Jiajia had to take time out of her schedule to participate in various promotional activities for the new book.

Although participating in the book promotion took up time of the survey, the book's popularity, in turn, boosted the survey's progress, attracting more people to participate.

At the same time, reports about Chinese laborers from various other angles and perspectives began to increase.

Just as the investigation was in full swing, an investigator from California sent a message that a small local history society was preparing to erect a bronze plaque at the Donner Pass on the state border.

The bronze plaque reads: "Twelve thousand Chinese laborers painstakingly built the railway through the mountains... These skilled Asian craftsmen left an indelible mark on the history of California and the American West."

This history society is a small, local organization with little reputation, but what they are about to do is particularly meaningful to us.

So, Tong Jiajia personally went to California and found this history society.

Tong Jiajia praised their upcoming plaque-erecting project and sponsored them with funds to support their research activities.

Two days later, the Washington embassy received an invitation from the California Historical Society to attend the ceremony for the installation of the Chinese laborers' bronze plaque at Donner Pass.

This was, of course, something Tong Jiajia hinted at to them. Their research was clearly beneficial to our investigation, and it was also part of the cultural exchange between the two sides.

The embassy attached great importance to the invitation and sent a delegation to California to participate in the event. It also invited local Chinese representatives to attend the ceremony.

After the news spread, many descendants of the Chinese laborers spontaneously went to the Donah Pass to participate in the commemorative activities, and the small ceremony grew bigger and bigger.

The local history society never imagined that their impromptu plaque-erecting event would generate such a huge response. They had neither the capacity, the personnel, nor the funds to hold such a large-scale event.

Seeing this situation, Tong Jiajia had no choice but to step forward and take over the entire event.

After all, Donner Pass is located in the heart of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, at a high altitude with a harsh climate. Although it is only September, the temperature at the summit is already very low.

Tong Jiajia's Maria Foundation mobilized funds, organized many vehicles, and transported a large number of tents, food, water and other supplies to provide free assistance to people along the way who came to participate in the event.

When the embassy learned of the difficulties, it stepped in and organized local Chinese representatives to maintain order, which prevented any accidents from happening at the event.

On the day of the event, witnessed by thousands of people, representatives from the embassy and the association solemnly hammered the last few rivets into a bronze plaque engraved with text.

Reporters from renowned newspapers such as The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, whom Sun Zhiwei paid to hire, captured this solemn moment on camera.

This was the first time that the names of Chinese laborers were inscribed along the Pacific Railroad.

With the continued popularity of "The Pacific Railroad," which topped the national bestseller list that month, and the ongoing media coverage of the Chinese laborers' story across the United States, the book's success was widely recognized.

Many cities along the Pacific Railroad have launched a series of related activities.

Archaeology researchers at Stanford University excavated a site in the Stanford Botanical Garden and discovered it was once a residence for Chinese laborers.

Everyone knows Stanford University, but few people know that the owner of the Central Pacific Railroad, one of the two major companies that built the Pacific Railroad, was named Leland Stanford.

This Stanford is the founder of Stanford University. Back then, the Central Pacific Railroad employed more Chinese laborers than the Union Pacific Railroad, and more Chinese laborers died on the sections they built.

On September 9, the San Francisco City Council passed a new proposal to designate May 10 of each year as "Chinese Transcontinental Railroad Workers' Day," a recognition and commemoration of the contributions of the Chinese laborers.

On the same day, the U.S. Department of Labor inscribed 12,000 Chinese railroad workers in its Hall of Honor. The Chinese railroad workers of the American Pacific Railroad were officially remembered by history.

The investigation finally concluded in mid-September, and the experts compiled all the data into a labor epic spanning the seven years of the construction of the Pacific Railroad.

Subsequently, this complete historical record was used in a traveling exhibition along the Pacific Railroad.

Once the touring exhibition is completed, these materials will be housed in the National Museum of American History on Constitution Avenue in Washington, D.C., where they will have their own dedicated exhibition space.

This was certainly not because they were being generous, but because of the negotiations that Tong Jiajia had undertaken. For this, she also donated $100 million to the museum as a charitable donation.

During the busy months that Tong Jiajia was in, Sun Zhiwei was also not idle.

He reassembled the stock trading team that Huang Mingyu had previously assembled and shorted the stock of Union Pacific Railroad.

This investigation was initiated because of them, so they should also contribute some of the money spent on it.

(End of this chapter)