Aurora Historical Society opens new exhibit May 4

The Aurora Historical Society will open a new exhibit "Ethnicity and Diversity in Aurora, 1834-Present" on Friday, May 4, with a ribbon cutting at 4 p.m. at the Pierce Art and History Center, 20 E. Downer Place.

The display will be open, with light refreshments, until 9 p.m.

The exhibit extends to Aug. 4. Regular hours for the museum are noon to 4 p.m. Wednesdays to Saturdays. Admission is free, but donations are appreciated.

Drawing on the archives of the historical society, the exhibit will present the story of the city from the time of native habitation to the arrival of the first settlers, who were Yankees from the east, in 1834, through repeated waves of immigration up to the present moment.

Irish, French Canadian, German and Luxembourger settlers came in the mid 1800s, followed, after the Civil War, by African Americans. Beginning around 1900, Eastern European Jews, Romanians, Italians, Greeks, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans arrived. The most recent additions to the city, around the turn of the 21st century, have been from the Indian subcontinent. Since the year 2000, a small number of refugees from South Asia have also begun new lives in Aurora.

Visit www.aurorahistory.net.