Elmhurst History Museum continues immigrant exhibit with storytelling event

The Elmhurst History Museum has been celebrating immigrant stories for the past six months with its exhibit “In Pursuit of Happiness.” The museum now will close out the series of events with “Yellow Peril: Understanding Asian America through Storytelling.”

The free event will take place from 2 to 3 p.m. April 16 at the Elmhurst History Museum Education Center, 120 E. Park Ave. Residents can register for the event online at ElmhurstHistory.org.

“What we tried to do with this exhibit was to give it a lot of local connections and have it share stories of many different people,” said Patrice Roche, marketing and communications specialist of the museum. “With this event, we’re bringing a new dimension to learning about how we treat people who come to our country and how we weave them into the quilt that is America.”

The event will feature speaker Ada Cheng, who began her career as a college educator and now uses storytelling to educate people on immigration issues. Cheng’s career change began in 2016 with the hope that she could use her immigration story to inspire discussion and help others share their stories.

Cheng immigrated to the United States around 1993 as a student. She received citizenship in 2015. She said she wants to encourage the use of storytelling as a way to build empathy and connections among communities, tying her story to the present and past of America’s immigration story.

“We need to rethink the way we relate to one another and give people the space to share their different lived experiences,” Cheng said. “Our stories exist in interaction with one another and should help us come together to have a dialogue.”

Roche said the event will be the last In the “Pursuit of Happiness” exhibit, which attendees are invited to visit after Cheng’s presentation. The exhibit is in the museum until May 14, she said.

For Cheng, storytelling is a way to step into the shoes of others by listening, and her presentation will encourage attendees to share their stories as well as hear her stories. Roche said she is particularly excited for this aspect of the event because she believes Cheng brings a new and exciting platform to the idea of lecture-based events.

“I want people to know this is not just an event about Asian-American history,” Cheng said. “This is not just about my story. It’s about encouraging conversation and empathy and developing compassion together.”

Cheng said people might expect her to talk about the brutal assaults and violence against Asian Americas that gained attention amid the pandemic. Instead, she aims to address micro-aggressions and day-to-day issues immigrants from all cultures face.

In her life, Cheng has struggled with being identified as “other” despite being an American citizen for so long. She invites people to think about how long a person must be in America to be considered American and to consider how their histories are reflected in a larger societal context.

“Disagreement does not negate other people’s experiences,” Cheng said. “It’s another person’s experience and there is nothing to agree or disagree with. That’s why we tell stories.”