Professor Ng Receives Grant to Advance Archaeological Research

Far Western Foundation has awarded a $10,000 grant to Laura Ng, assistant professor of anthropology, in support of her project, “Wyoming Chinatowns and Emigrant Home Villages: Archaeologies of Labor, Racial Violence, and Transnationalism.”

The funding will support the continuation of Ng’s archaeological research on historic Chinese American communities in Rock Springs and Evanston, Wyoming — work that has drawn national attention and was featured in The New Yorker.

In summer 2026, Ng will lead an archaeological excavation in Rock Springs alongside four students participating in Grinnell’s Mentored Advanced Project (MAP) program. During the 2026–27 academic year, she and her student collaborators will catalog and analyze artifacts uncovered during the excavation. The project will extend internationally in January 2027, when Ng travels to China to study artifacts and examine homes in villages historically connected to Wyoming’s Chinese communities.

Ng’s research explores how Chinese laborers responded to racism and racial violence, particularly surrounding the 1885 Rock Springs Chinese massacre. The project also investigates the flow of people, goods, and information between South Chinese villages and Wyoming Chinatowns, offering a deeper understanding of transnational networks and lived experiences.

This work builds on Ng’s collaboration with students through the MAP program last summer, which was recently highlighted in the Grinnell College Newsroom story, “Unearthing Forgotten Stories.” Together, Ng and her students are uncovering histories that expand our understanding of migration, labor, and resilience — connecting past and present through research, mentorship, and discovery.