150 Year Transcontinental Railroad Commemoration | Panel Discussion and Ceremony

Join us at the Nevada Museum of Art to commemorate the historic 150th Anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Artists Zhi Lin and Hung Liu will join Andrea and John C. Deane Senior Curator and Deputy Director Ann M. Wolfe to discuss their artworks made in response to the sacrifices of Chinese Railroad workers who raced to complete the rail line that would unite America from east to west in 1869. Directly following the presentation, a ceremonial gathering will take place at the exact time 150 years ago that the Golden Spike was hammered into the last rail at Promontory, Utah by Leland Stanford. The program will include remarks followed by the recitation of the names of over 800 known Chinese railroad workers between 2:27 pm and 2:47 pm—a twenty minute period during which the original telegram announcing the completion of the railroad was sent from Utah to Washington DC in 1869. This honorific recitation will be accompanied by the playing of traditional Chinese instruments by Todd Green.

The ceremony and panel discussion will take place in the Nightingale Sky Room with sweeping views of the Sierra Nevada.