Tag Archives: Yick Wo

The Chinese Immigrants Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad

National Archives

This photograph was taken 148 years ago today, when the last spike in the First Transcontinental Railroad was driven at Promontory Point in the Utah Territory.  Not shown are the 10-15,000 Chinese immigrants who made up the majority of the workforce that laid nearly 2,000 miles of tracks, blasted through mountains, and dug the tunnels that joined the east and west coasts of the United States.  Many of the Chinese workers were brought over from China explicitly to work on the railroads.  Hundreds died.  In 1882, 13 years after the railroad was complete, President Chester A. Arthur showed his appreciation by signing the Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned all Chinese immigration in the U.S.  It would remain in effect until 1943.

On May 10, 1886, 17 years to the day after the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed, Chinese Immigrants won a major victory for civil rights in Yick Wo v. Hopkins, in which the Supreme Court ruled that even though they are not citizens, immigrants are still entitled to equal protection of the law under our Constitution.  Learn more about Yick Wo and Chinese immigration to the U.S. in our film Yick Wo. and the Equal Protection Clause.

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Jury Selection: Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company wins a 2011 CINE Masters Series Award

Jury Selection: Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company is this year’s winner of the CINE Masters Series Award in the category of Professional Non-Telecast Non-Fiction. The 2010 award went to Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause.

Watch both films online at the Annenberg Classroom website.

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Jury Selection: Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company wins 2011 CINE Special Jury Award

Jury Selection: Edmonson v. Leesville Concrete Company is the winner of the 2011 CINE Special Jury Award for Adult Education and Entertainment.

Previously, both Edmonson and Let Freedom Swing! won CINE Golden Eagles. Edmonson now moves on to the next level of competition as a nominee for the Masters Series Award. Last year’s Masters Series winner for Professional Non-Telecast Non-Fiction was another Constitution Project film, Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause.

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Yick Wo named Best Documentary Short at the DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival

The DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival has announced their awards for 2010. Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause has been named Best Documentary Short. It will screen this Sunday at 2pm, along with five other short films, including Jitensha, the film named Best Narrative Short. You can read more about Yick Wo and the other winners here.

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Another chance to catch Yick Wo in California this October

Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause is going to be a part of the inaugural Los Angeles International Film Festival.

The festival runs from October 7-11, 2010 in Venice and Santa Monica, CA. Yick Wo will screen during Block 3, the “Music Video and Doc Friday Night Fest.”

Location details:

Friday October 8th
9:30pm-12:30am
Promenade Playhouse
1404 3rd Street Promenade
Santa Monica, CA 90401

Click here to purchase tickets — $20 will get you admission to the Block 3 screening and the reception party on the 10th. All-access passes are also available.

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Tickets now available: See Yick Wo as part of the DC Asian American Film Festival’s “No Day But Today” short film program

Catch Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause in Washington this October at the 11th annual DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival.

The film will screen Sunday, October 10 at 2:00 pm, as part of the “No Day But Today” short film program. You can purchase tickets here — admisson is $8 in advance, $10 at the door. The screening will take place at the Goethe-Institut, 812 Seventh Street, NW Washington, DC, and will include several short films from around the world.

The DC APA Film Festival runs October 7 – 16, 2010.

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Yick Wo screening in California

Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause will screen in California next month as part of the 13th annual United Nations Association Film Festival.

Presented in conjunction with the Center for East Asian Studies and Center for Asian American Media, the film will be shown Tuesday, October 26 at 4pm at the Eastside Theater, 1041 Myrtle Street, East Palo Alto.

The festival runs October 22-31, 2010 in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, San Francisco and at Stanford University. This year’s films all focus on subjects relating to population, migration and globalization.

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Yick Wo wins best short film at the Show Me Social Justice Film Festival

Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause has been honored with another award. The film won Best Short Film this past weekend at the Show Me Social Justice International Film Festival in Warrensburg, MO.

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Yick Wo wins two awards from the Los Angeles International Film Festival

The Constitution Project: Yick Wo and The Equal Protection Clause has been selected by The Los Angeles International Film Festival, as a winner in the Short Documentary Film category. In addition, Yick Wo editor Marc Tidalgo won for Best Editing-Short Documentary.

The film will screen this fall in Los Angeles.

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Yick Wo accepted to the 2010 United Nations Association Film Festival

Yick Wo and the Equal Protection Clause was accepted to this year’s United Nations Association Film Festival.  The festival is hosted by Stanford University and the United Nations Associated, which is a non-profit that advocates for US participation in the UN.  The theme this year is “Population. Migration. Globalization.”

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