New landmark recognizes China’s contribution to Yosemite | WGN Radio 720

Yosemite National Park, CA (AP) — The 100-year-old building used by Chinese workers for laundry at Yosemite’s iconic Waona Hotel has been restored to become a visitor attraction. park.

Authorities announced a new sign on Friday marking the Chinese Laundry Building in Yosemite Valley, Fresnoby reports. The new exhibit inside tells the story of a Chinese worker who helped build Tioga Road and Wawona Road, the key infrastructures that enabled tourism to the park.

According to Park Ranger Adam Ramsey, the building was later used as a storage facility and is part of a series of structures that make up the new Yosemite Historical Center, telling the history of the immigrants who created the park.

“The Chinese people have been a big part of the entire Sierra Nevada community for a really long time, and it’s time for us to start sharing that history here in Yosemite,” Ramsey said.

According to a study conducted by Yosemite Park Ranger Yen Enchan, in 1883 Chinese workers took a stunning route across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, reaching an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,000 meters), on 56 miles (90 kilometers) of Tioga Road. Supported the construction. days. This road serves as one of the main roads in the park. They were also hired in Yosemite as cooks, laundry workers and gardeners.

Many came to California first during the gold rush and brought with them the skills they learned in China about construction, engineering, agriculture, medicine, and textiles, which had a major impact on America’s early success, Chan said. Told.

She said Yosemite’s history of China and its contributions were erased from memory due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, passed by Parliament to prevent further Chinese from entering the country in search of work. Stated. The law has blocked Chinese immigrants in this country for 60 years.

Members of the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, who helped renovate the building, said they were happy to see Yosemite include Chinese in the story of the park’s origins.

“This has resonated with many of my generation,” said former chairman Eugene Moy. “Since we’ve been here since the 1870s, it makes a lot of sense to be able to see this, because many of us are often driven into margins. People have been in the margins for 150 years, 3, Despite the reality of being here for four or five generations, we are not always perceived as full-fledged Americans. “

New landmark recognizes China’s contribution to Yosemite | WGN Radio 720

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