Our Rock Springs Chinatown archaeology project has received national coverage since our last post! We were featured as a story on yesterday morning’s NPR Weekend Edition (Sunday), which means that potentially millions of people across the U.S. learned about the 1885 Chinese Massacre, the commemoration events that brought descendants to Rock Springs earlier this month, and our archaeological dig.
In the lead-up to attending the commemoration as a descendant of Lew Fook, a Rock Springs Chinese coal miner and restaurateur, Dr. Beth Lew-Williams researched and learned about their family’s connection to Rock Springs dated further back then they thought.
“In terms of [learning about] my great-grandfather and 1885 in the massacre, that was only two weeks ago, three weeks ago.” – Robert Lew
Grinnell College News also highlighted our archaeological research and the Asian American history road trip that we took to get from Iowa to Wyoming via the Southwestern U.S . The trip (transportation, food, lodging, camping) was made possible by the Four Corners Fund, which was established by alum Don Marquardt. The students were also paid a research stipend and provided with housing for their archaeological work by the Mentored Advance Projects–a Grinnell College undergraduate research program.
https://alumni.grinnell.edu/news/four-corners-fund
“This summer has been an opportunity I could only dream about going into college.” – Avajane Lei
“I’m very appreciative of this funding because it’s supporting students like me who couldn’t afford to be here during the summer,” he says. “Being able to camp, being able to see mountains and regions, it really made me appreciate nature, the Southwest, and what funding like that can do for students.” – Jorge Salinas
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