The Chinese characters are barely visible etched into the headstones and burial bricks. The markers are cracked and missing pieces that would have completed a name or hometown. The artifacts leave an enticing but ultimately elusive clue to the fledgling Chinese community that existed in Los Angeles more than 100 years ago.
The markers were discovered in 2005 by construction workers in Boyle Heights building an extension of the Gold Line commuter rail. Now, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is hoping to find distant relatives to claim the artifacts and skeletal remains of 128 people found at the site near Lorena and 1st streets.
The campaign launched last month is up against incredible odds to find anyone related to the interred -- some of whom were buried as long ago as 1885. Compounding the problem is that local historians believe the graves belonged to Chinese sojourners who were probably just as anonymous when they walked the streets of Chinatown as their remains are today.
Many used fake names and had no children because laws at the time prevented Chinese women from immigrating to the United States -- federal policy aimed at eradicating the Chinese population in America.
Historians believe the site may be that of a lost potter's field for Chinese that became obscured by development sometime after the 1920s. Chinese were not allowed to be buried among whites in the adjacent Evergreen Cemetery.
"There's a history to be told, but the picture is incomplete," said Yvette Robles, MTA community relations manager.
Robles said the MTA has run advertisements in Chinese media, both locally and abroad, announcing the discovery and asking readers and listeners to contact the MTA if they think they may have had relatives buried in the area. Images of the finds can be viewed online at metro.net/projects_programs/eastside/postcards.htm.
"I get a report once a week with five to seven communications through this effort," Robles said, adding, "Nothing concrete."
One person in the United States called with a credible lead, prompting further review by the MTA, but Robles declined to elaborate.
Officials at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Assn., the umbrella organization for the dozens of family groups that have existed in and around downtown Chinatown since the 1800s, said they have not located any next of kin among their members despite an exhaustive check of records.
