The remains of some of the nation’s earliest Chinese immigrants will soon get a new resting place, five years after graves were discovered during construction of a Los Angeles light-rail line.

Officials dedicated a memorial wall honoring the 174 burial remains today at Evergreen Cemetery East of Downtown L.A.

Next month, they will be re-interring the remains inside the cemetery where the Chinese pioneers were once prohibited from being buried.

Since its inception, Evergreen Cemetery has dedicated land for impoverished residents of L.A. and those with no known next-of-kin, known as a public “potter’s field.”

A portion was designated for Chinese burials but because of racist policies segregating the Chinese in the late 1800s, they were prohibited from being buried there.

The Chinese community erected a memorial shrine at Evergreen Cemetery in 1888, which is now a Los Angeles Historical Cultural Monument.

By 1924, the overall cemetery was replaced by a crematorium built by the County of Los Angeles. Subsequently, the grave markers were removed and the exact location of the “potter’s field” was forgotten.

On June 22, 2005, during the widening of First Street due to the Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension construction, approximately 174 burial sites were discovered.

After long efforts by the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority to locate next-of-kin, and after appropriate documentation and historical research, the remains will be reburied within Evergreen Cemetery next to the historic Chinese Shrine.

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