Revisiting the Rock Springs Massacre
—In 1885, white coal miners in Wyoming Territory, murdered at least 28 Chinese men and ran the rest of the Chinese out of town at gunpoint.—
“These images are an homage to my grandfather, Gung Gung, and to the Chinese miners of Rock Springs. Gung Gung, who humbly described himself as being “same as born in a restaurant,” was a brilliant, self-educated man — a poet, a photographer, a calligrapher, a community organizer, a businessperson and a family man.
My parents lived in Rock Springs briefly before I was born. When I was a child, we often visited Rock Springs and my grandparents’ trailer park. My dad’s family still lives there today. After two decades of absence, I returned to explore my family’s experiences and roots, as well as what it means to be biracial — both Chinese and white — in parts of the Intermountain West where diversity is scarce.
The Rock Springs Massacre of 1885 resonates in me today, with confusing feelings of where my biracial identity intersects — a liminal space, where I never quite feel like I fully fit in with either of my races.
This set of images works through the process of grief — rebuilding, peace and rebirth. I used historical images related to the event and overlaid them with family mementos, as well as with photos from my trips to Rock Springs. I intentionally left the images convoluted and dense to reflect my biracial identity and the human process of documenting history. The many layers represent how all the elements of ourselves — even the unwanted ones — work together to make us who we are.” - Introduction written for High Country News
"Endurance", Gung Gung’s poem about endurance overlays an image of the rebuilt Rock Spring’s Chinatown in 1896. “Pain in your heart for a long time, you keep going.”
"Thank You": Looters scouring the burnt remains of the Rock Springs Chinatown in 1885. I photographed joss paper at the site of the former Chinatown to honor the lost lives of those Chinese miners. Joss paper is burned to honor ancestors and relatives in the afterlife.
" Complexity": An archival image shows the chaos of Chinese miners returning after the massacre. Gung Gung’s words and my Aunt Joyce’s stanza represent the unresolvable aspects of life and a biracial identity.
"Grief": In the background, the Chinese miners return to Rock Springs after the massacre. Gung Gung was constantly learning vocabulary, and the calligraphy is his.
“Rebuild”: Aunt Joyce’s poem and a frozen Rock Springs sunrise merge with an image of the rebuilt Rock Springs Chinatown in 1896.
"Rebirth": An image of train tracks in Green River, Wyoming, from 1871 collides with a recent image, along with my mom and brother’s names and my own, written by Gung Gung.
Historical images courtesy of the Sweetwater County Historical Museum and Library of Congress.