Congratulations Great Granny Grandma ! You were right on the money !
Yes the Wordless Wednesday photo is one I took several years ago. It was in Auburn, California outside a small local Railroad museum.
The shadow is of a 22 foot sculpture of a grizzled man in a conical hat pushing a wheelbarrow. It was created in 1972 and called "The Chinese Coolie."
The Coolie is made from 1 mile of reinforced steel rebar and 35 cubic yards of concrete. Including his wheelbarrow, the Coolie is 33 feet long and weighs 35 tons.
Politically incorrect, or historically accurate? While the term "coolie" may be denigrating today, it was used to describe the unskilled Asian laborers pouring into California in the second half of the 19th century.
The statue was created as a tribute to the historical significance of the Chinese worker in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad through the Sierra Mountains of California.
To get some idea of the actual size , if you look down to the statue's leg you can see my friend Ed standing beside it.
Grateful for the men that gave us their all to create the Transcontinental Railroad, with only picks and shovels and that famous wheelbarrow.
Always be Grateful
Always be Kind
12 comments:
I love seeing the statue that made the shadow. It's a great piece of art!
Auburn is a charming town, and with it being only half an hour from my hometown, I've visited many many times. It's an old historic town, and the sights are interesting. Great food and restaurants too! Thanks for explaining the photo.
Wow, I am glad to finally see the real thing. And I am thinking many of them would have suffered making this.
Oh my goodness, Sue. I'm so glad you continued the story of the box car and shadow. How facinating. And how HUGH. What a time in our history. You know you have captured so many wonderful things with your camera. So glad Don and I have been able to be with you when you have taken some of them. We were just talking yesterday about our memories with you and Dave.
I echo Ginny's comment. Thank you so much for sharing.
That's pretty cool and explains yesterday's photo. California wouldn't be California without the hard work from Chinese workers. Very important part of our history.
The work they did on the railroad was an incredible feat! Thank you for linking up.
Wow! I never would have guessed. Perspective is everything.
What an interesting statue. When I saw the picture yesterday I guess I saw that shaow a whole different way. I can see the shape of the statue now though
Thanks for sharing the pictures of the statue that created the shadow.
I didn't get to see yesterday's post until now, so I'm glad I saw this first and then went back and saw what others saw yesterday. What a neat photo, and I love the statue and the story behind it. When you look at the miles and miles of railroad that they laid, you have to be in awe of their sacrifices and hard labor. Wow! So many things we take for granted today were built with the blood, sweat and tears of so many very hard workers of yesterday, who weren't always treated with very much kindness. Thank you to them! Great post today and yesterday!
Oh my I didn't know any of that - other than that statue was huge!
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