Greenwich Historical Society in partnership with the India Cultural Center (ICC) and UConn Asian and Asian American Studies Institute (AAASI) unveiled the student-curated My Story, Our Future: South Asian American Youth Voices in Connecticut exhibit at a reception for participating students, their families and dignitaries. On view at the Historical Society through March 2nd, the exhibit honors the societal contributions of South Asian Americans through the lens of students in Fairfield and Westchester Counties.
Created in alignment with Connecticut’s mandated K-12 Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) curriculum, the My Story, Our Future (MSOF) initiative began in 2022 to help build awareness of the immense contributions of South Asian Americans, and of the challenges, struggles and triumphs their immigrant families experienced in their assimilation to the U.S.
Through the vision and guidance of Dr. Jason Oliver Chang, the chief proponent of the bill’s passage, South Asian American teens from area public and private middle and high schools developed intimate oral histories of their families’ experiences as a central feature of the program. These histories, along with artifacts, photos and other memorabilia related to their South Asian American identity, are artfully displayed in the exhibit.
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Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal and U. S. Representative Jim Himes spoke about the importance of diversity and emphasized the enormous contributions of immigrant populations in shaping the state’s history.
Dr. Chang shared his experiences as faculty mentor and guide and spoke of the challenges and opportunities of introducing the AAPI curriculum to the state’s 170 school districts and to the teachers who have not previously studied it. ICC Executive Director Margie French expressed gratitude to Dr. Chang for his vision in imagining that South Asian American teens could create history for the next generation with MSOF, and to Greenwich Historical Society for displaying the memorabilia and family histories in a visually striking and dynamic manner.
The 12 participating students commented on how MSOF gave them an awareness and appreciation for the sacrifices of their parents and grandparents in their immigration to America, and on how it has helped them create closer familial and cultural bonds.
In her welcoming remarks, Historical Society Executive Director and CEO Debra Mecky underscored the exhibit’s benefit in enabling an understanding what it means to grow up as a South Asian American in the Greenwich region: “The heartfelt family stories and artifacts related to their heritage tell a fuller history of the region, which helps to support our commitment to preserve and interpret Greenwich’s history through community engagement.”
For more information on the exhibit and to listen to the oral histories on Spotify while viewing the exhibit: https://greenwichhistory.org/event/my-story-our-future-2025/.
Greenwich Historical Society is located at 47 Strickland Rd., Cos Cob, CT. It is open Monday – Friday, from 9am – 5pm; Saturday – Sunday, from 12pm – 4pm.
