Immigrant Journeys from South of the Border ¡Mi travesía hasta Wisconsin!

Travelling Exhibit on display in the Carnegie Wing of the Library & a Hispanic DIY craft for youth: At a time when the immigration of people from Mexico, Central and South America is politically divisive, this exhibit was created to add another dimension to Wisconsinites’ understanding of immigration, and to offer visitors to the exhibit a different entry point into this important public conversation. We believe that the personal stories presented in this exhibit, of people from south of the border who are living in Wisconsin today, can help Wisconsinites deepen their understanding of the complexity of immigration policy, and its impacts here in Wisconsin. The traveling exhibit was created by the Wisconsin Humanities (WH) in close collaboration with Centro Hispano of Dane County, because of its extensive ties throughout the Latino community in Dane county. Journalist Bill Berry and photojournalist Gary Porter took the photographs and wrote the personal narratives for the exhibition, based on interviews that they conducted with help from Centro Hispano staff. The project website, www.WisconsinImmigrantJourneys.org, was developed by the WH under the direction of WH staff member Jessica Becker and Mirva Johnson, a PhD student funded by the UW-Madison Center for the Humanities. Technical support was provided by UW-Madison’s WiscWeb. The Wisconsin Humanities was founded in 1972 as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Its mandate is to support and create local and statewide public humanities programs of all kinds, and to help Wisconsin residents use the tools of the humanities to thoughtfully discuss public policy issues. The WH’s matching grant program funds locally-designed humanities projects in libraries, museums, and other community institutions. The WH also periodically develops its own programs, such as the Immigrant Journeys exhibit, to address topics of statewide interest. T.B. Scott Free Library was fortunate to be added to the exhibit's trek through Wisconsin in 2021.