Bringing to light the forgotten history of the Chinese pioneers who helped build the American West

A quarter million Chinese came to California between 1849 and the early 1880s to work on the railroads and in the mines, industries and services of the American frontier. But today there is scant record about them — they have mostly been forgotten as individuals. Chinese Whispers looks beyond this historical amnesia to reclaim and retell forgotten community memories, and reinvigorate cultural heritage.

Using a multi-platform approach, we bring this history to broad audiences in an integrated program of research, storytelling, artistic productions, and public engagement, to connect communities with place, and past with present.