LEWISTON — In the 1800s, waves of Irish and French-Canadian immigrants come to Lewiston-Auburn. Following them were Lithuanians, Germans, Greeks and Italians.

“Lots of strife and struggle ensued as they all tried to find a place in their ‘new’ community on the Androscoggin River” said Museum L-A Executive Director Rachel Desgrosseilliers. “Many remember the help-wanted signs stating: French need not apply.”
“We broke down the barriers,” Desgrosseilliers continued. “We assimilated, and we blended together sharing each other’s cultures.”

Between 2005 and 2007, she noted, Somali families started arriving.

On Saturday, Oct. 24, Museum L-A will invite the public to the opening reception of its new exhibit, “Rivers of Immigration: Peoples of the Androscoggin,” which not only showcases the cultural diversity of the Twin Cities, but also reminds us that history repeats itself in the immigrant experience.

The reception will run from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission to the museum will be free that day.

Through a major collaborative effort, the exhibit features some earlier as well as more recent immigrants. An illustrated timeline shows when various immigrant groups settled in Lewiston-Auburn. Research by Museum L-A’s education director Annette Vance-Dorey, with a Bates College student intern Kaleigh Pare, helps provide a clear view of the immigration story from the early 1800s to the present.

Also collaborating with the museum are Anne Kemper, counselor/coordinator of the Lewiston Adult Education Adult Learning Center, and Catherine Besteman, professor of anthropology at Colby College, as well as members and leaders of the local Somali Bantu community.

Kemper’s students, who are adult English language learners, have contributed stories and photographs of their journeys from their homelands to Lewiston. Her students include Somali, Sudanese, Chinese, Russian, Peruvian, Mexican and Togolese immigrants.
“Rivers of Immigration” includes selections from “The Somali Bantu Experience: From East Africa to Maine,” an exhibit curated by Besteman and presented at the Colby College Museum of Art last fall.

There will be an interactive Writing Wall upon which visitors can share stories of immigration, in English or their native language.
A sharing of ethnic foods – Greek, French Canadian, Irish and Somali – as well as ethnic dance and music will be part of the opening.
“With this exhibit, we hope that we can once again learn from each other and celebrate the diversity which led us before to a richer community heritage,” said Desgrosseilliers.

Museum L-A is at 35 Canal St. in the Bates Mill Complex at Canal and Chestnut streets. For more information, call 333-3881 or e-mail [email protected].