Hmong history exhibit to open in Merced

Photos, documentaries, hands-on displays and the stories of thousands of Hmong refugees bring life to a free exhibit that opens Saturday in Merced.

The Hmongstory 40 opens its doors to the public at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Merced County Fairgrounds, 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. It runs through May 15.

The exhibit breaks up the history into four eras in the migration, with segments titled “Life in Laos,” “Laos & The Secret War,” “Thailand Refugee Camps” and “California.” It was shown late last year in Fresno.

“These are the stories of Hmong refugees told by the children of refugees,” said Lar Yang, the project director.

The exhibit has declassified CIA documents that shine light on the secret war in Laos and how Hmong were recruited to fight on the U.S. side during the Vietnam War.

The war was secret because the Geneva Conference of 1954 had marked Laos as a “neutral” country to be spared from military conflict. “Nobody was supposed to be in Laos,” Yang said.

Many Hmong agreed to fight against the North Vietnamese during the Vietnam War. When the United States pulled out, communists took over the country and the Hmong became refugees. Many fled the country to save their lives, braving thousands of miles of jungle, raging waters and refugee camps.

Hmongstory includes about 300 photos of refugees who were in some of the 29 camps across Thailand.

The final room of the exhibit is about the adoption of American culture in California. A census map from 2010 shows Merced’s Hmong population at 7,254, the third-largest population in the state behind those in Sacramento and Fresno.

Yang said the first Hmong communities in the state were in Merced, where the refugees settled in 1976.

Hmong, who historically have no written language, are getting an assist from a Microsoft program that’s recording the language. Exhibit visitors will get a hands-on look at that program, as well as other displays they can thumb through.

Several documentaries also play in corners of the exhibit.

Yang said Hmongstory is a human story that should speak to any American, because the stories of immigrants are not especially different.

“It’s individual stories,” Yang said. “They don’t speak by themselves, but together they speak volumes.”

The exhibit was about two years in the making and took the work of 40 volunteers. It cost about $250,000, of which nearly half came from families donating relatively small sums of $100 or so, Yang said.

The opening ceremony at 10 a.m. Saturday includes speakers such as Merced County Superior Court Judge Paul C. Lo, outgoing Merced County Office of Education Superintendent Steven E. Gomes and others.

There’s no fee to park on the grounds, according to fairgrounds officials. The exhibit is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends through May 15. Go to www.hmongstory40.org.

This story was originally published May 4, 2016 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Hmong history exhibit to open in Merced."