Brownwood News – The Martin & Frances Lehnis Railroad Museum held a food and drink tasting event, titled “A Taste of Asia,” on Thursday, from 5-7 p.m. at the museum to celebrate the traveling Smithsonian exhibit currently on display. The tasting party featured small bites with asian flavors, and samplings of sake.
Pictured at top: Cookies made by ‘Mark It With a B‘ were enjoyed during the event.
Event attendees were able to enjoy the food and drink offerings while strolling through the Smithsonian traveling exhibit, “I Want the Wide American Earth: an Asian Pacific American Story” on display at the museum July 1st – September 24th. The exhibit celebrates the immigration of Chinese, Japanese, and Asian peoples and how their culture impacted America.
“Fantastic turnout,” said the railroad museum curator, Beverly Norris during the event. “It’s been neat to have both our Asian community, as well as other restaurants come in to share these foods.”
Also participating in the event Thursday evening was Jun Tong, a Chinese Mandarin teacher, demonstrating how to write Chinese characters. Tong explained when Asian peoples began to immigrate to the United States, they needed to create a new set of characters to name their destination. A combination of the characters for ‘beautiful,’ and ‘kingdom,’ were used to reflect their feelings for their new homeland.
Jun Tong holds the characters for Beautiful and Kingdom, which are used to describe the United States of America.
“I Want the Wide American Earth: an Asian Pacific American Story,” is a banner exhibit that showcases Asian Pacific American history across a multitude of diverse cultures and explores how Asian Pacific Americans shaped and have been shaped by the course of our nation’s history. Rich with compelling, often surprising stories, it takes a sweeping look at this history, from the very first Asian immigrants centuries ago to the complex challenges facing Asian Pacific American communities today.
There is also an iPhone app to utilize throughout the exhibit to discover more.
The exhibit was created by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and was made possible by a grant from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation.
Asian and Pacific Americans make up more than 5% of the U.S. population, with over 17 million people. Their ancestral roots represent over 50% of the world, extending from East Asia to Southeast Asia, and from South Asia to the Pacific Islands and Polynesia.
This is the first Smithsonian exhibit ever in the Brownwood area, and is part of a 13-city tour across America. The special exhibit is part of the regular admission fee to the Museum, with activities and crafts for children and adults every Saturday during its display.
“We’re looking forward to our school groups coming in and having a chance to see a Smithsonian exhibit,” said Norris.
