About the presentation:
20th-century immigration policies in the U.S. tightened restrictions for some, opened doors for others and continue to be a topic that polarizes groups across the United States. How can the National Museum of American History offer a personal and humanizing version of migration and the Latino experience? Objects collected for Operation Pedro Pan, a letter written by a 14-year-old girl, and material collected in the Arizona desert, a pair of inscribed athletic shoes, are examples of extraordinary migration journeys seldom told within a national context and reveal how individuals made sense of the everyday lived experiences of an often violent and traumatic migration process.

About the speaker:
L. Stephen Velasquez is a curator for the Division of Home and Community Life, National Museum of American History. He is currently involved in a research project on Mexican vineyard workers in Napa and an upcoming exhibit, “Corazón Y Vida: Lowriding Culture.” Past projects include the “Bracero Oral History Project” and associated traveling exhibit, “Bittersweet Harvest: The Bracero Program 1942-1964,” the exhibit “Mexican Treasures at the Smithsonian,” “AZUCAR! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz,” “A Collector’s Vision of Puerto Rico” and “Julia Child’s Kitchen at the Smithsonian.”