“We the People: Milwaukee Stories of Immigration, Citizenship, and Community” is a new semi-permanent exhibition at the Milwaukee County Historical Society (MCHS), opening to the public on June 12.
Coinciding with the nation’s 250th birthday, the exhibit represents a major institutional milestone and the result of many years of planning, research, and community collaboration. It invites visitors of all ages to explore how immigration has shaped both Milwaukee and the broader United States.
“We the People” examines how immigration has influenced local society and the American way of life since 1776. The exhibit first acknowledges Indigenous Peoples as the original inhabitants of this land, before tracing subsequent waves of immigration that transformed Milwaukee into the city it is today.
Immigrants have shaped Milwaukee’s economy, neighborhoods, and culture for over 180 years. Waves of German, Polish, Italian, Irish, and other newcomers helped build the city in the 19th and early 20th centuries, establishing Milwaukee as a center of industry and craftsmanship.
Today, new generations arriving from South America, Asia, and Africa continue to redefine what it means to be American through the traditions, languages, businesses, and communities they bring with them.
Rather than presenting immigration as a single historical period, the exhibit frames it as an ongoing process that continues to shape Milwaukee in the present day. Earlier European immigration waves that transformed the city during the industrial era are connected with more recent arrivals whose communities have reshaped commercial corridors, religious institutions, schools, neighborhood identity, and cultural life across Milwaukee County.
It expands on previous community-centered public history programming by MCHS. Past exhibits, including Historical Society reopens to the public with new exhibit covering 150 years of Milwaukee politics, Viewaukee: Interactive program invites residents use street binoculars to see city’s historic past, and Milwaukee County Historical Society is brewing an extensive beer history exhibition similarly explored how Milwaukee’s identity has been shaped through social change, cultural memory, and the experiences of the people who built the city across generations.
“We the People” explores these stories through artifacts, photographs, oral histories, and an interactive timeline that connects Milwaukee immigration history with major United States immigration laws and government policies. It also examines how public attitudes toward immigrants have shifted across generations, often repeating familiar debates over labor, language, assimilation, citizenship, and national identity.
The display features items from the Milwaukee County Historical Society’s collection alongside loans from Voces de la Frontera, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, Mexican Fiesta, Hmong American Peace Academy, Burmese Rohingya Community of Wisconsin, Dance Academy of Mexico, and local families who shared personal objects connected to their immigration journeys.
Visitors will also hear directly from first-generation and second-generation immigrants from communities across Milwaukee through oral histories collected specifically for the exhibit, offering firsthand perspectives on identity, belonging, and opportunity.
The oral histories were designed to expand understanding beyond a traditional chronological narrative by allowing participants to describe migration, adaptation, and community formation in their own words.
Interview subjects discuss experiences ranging from language barriers and cultural adjustment to education, employment, religion, discrimination, and the preservation of traditions across generations. The recordings are intended to create a more personal and emotionally immediate connection between visitors and the communities represented throughout the exhibit.
The exhibit was intentionally built through collaboration with community organizations and individuals whose stories are often underrepresented in institutional historical collections. In addition to formal archival materials, the exhibit incorporates personal photographs, immigration documents, family keepsakes, clothing, cultural artifacts, and oral testimony that help place large historical events within the context of everyday life.
The approach reflects an effort to present immigration history not only through government policy and public institutions, but also through family memory, lived experience, and intergenerational storytelling.
“Milwaukee’s story can’t be told without immigration,” said Ben Barbera, Executive Director of the Milwaukee County Historical Society. “For generations, newcomers have shaped our industries, neighborhoods, businesses, and cultural traditions. This exhibition highlights how those stories continue to influence the city we know today.”
One of the goals of the exhibit is to connect Milwaukee’s local immigration history with broader national conversations taking place during the country’s 250th anniversary period. While it draws heavily from Milwaukee-based stories, many of the themes explored — including migration, identity, citizenship, exclusion, opportunity, and cultural change — reflect experiences shared across the United States.
The historical showcase also examines how immigration policy and political rhetoric have shaped the lives of individuals and families differently across time periods and communities.
“We hope visitors see pieces of themselves in these stories,” said Curator Janean VanBeckum. “Whether your family arrived generations ago or recently, this exhibition creates space for conversation, empathy, and understanding around what it means to belong.”
The collection also provides visitors with educational resources related to immigration history and current U.S. immigration policy from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, Library of Congress, and Wisconsin Humanities.
The Milwaukee County Historical Society hopes the exhibition serves not only as a resource for historical knowledge, but also as a place where visitors can reflect on the experiences, hopes, and values that connect communities across generations and backgrounds.
Founded in 1935, MCHS and has become the place for people to learn about and to celebrate Milwaukee. Through education programs, exhibitions, the research library, historic sites, and special events, MCHS offers Milwaukeeans and visitors to Milwaukee a chance to connect with the heritage of Milwaukee. MCHS preserves more than one million documents and photographs and more than 80,000 artifacts.
Milwaukee County Historical Society and Lее Μаtz
