A new exhibition focusing on the 40th anniversary of the Hmong arrival to the United States will open in Fresno this Saturday, reports the Fresno Bee.
The Central Valley city is the home of the second largest population of Hmong in the country. Many of the early immigrants came as refugees after the end of the secret war in Laos. They had fought the unsuccessful CIA war to stop the communist takeover of their country and most escaped to Thailand before landing in the United States.
The interactive free exhibition will be at the Fresno Fairgrounds through early January. Two years in the planning stages, Hmongstory 40 is broken into four parts-life in Laos, the secret war, Thailand Refugee Camps and resettlement in California.
“We’re actually redefining history,” said Lar Yang, the founder of the project. “Our personal history is two to three paragraphs in history books.”
You can learn more about the project in the Fresno Bee.