![[logo] Crest of the University of Wisconsin-Madison](/images/crest.png)
![[logo] Ask a Librarian](/images/ask.png)
« Back to All News Releases
"Beyond the Threshold" Exhibit Explores 200 Years of Mexican/U.S. Migration
Posted 10/21/2010
MADISON, Wis. –Beyond the Threshold: Migration Between Mexico and the U.S. (1810-2010) / Más allá del umbral: Migración entre México y E.U.A. (1810-2010)
An exhibit at Memorial Library covers two hundred years of immigration between the U.S. and Mexico. This exhibit, on display October 20–November 17, provides a historical background for the film series Undocumentaries, sponsored by LACIS, which will be showing in Memorial Library Room 460, Wednesdays 5–7p.m. October 20– November 17. Each program features a film screening followed by a discussion with special guests.
Migration means movement. Movement is a fact of life; all living beings, humans included, are in constant movement. When modern human migration collides with political and social barriers, the flow is funneled into immigration or emigration and movement becomes a conscious choice to cross the boundary and risk the consequence.
With this exhibit, we hope to show the big picture of the immigration and emigration between Mexico and the United States and their deeply rooted interconnections by looking past the media hype. We were inspired to start in 1810 by Mexico’s current bicentennial celebration of its independence. Our display of 200 years of political, social and economic history provides only a peek of what is beyond the threshold.
The Mexicans who now cross the border into any of the border American states would have simply been relocating “up north” 200 years ago when Mexico gained its independence. 200 years ago, the Americans were the immigrants crossing the border and setting up makeshift towns in those lands. After studying primary documents from the 1800s that were both in favor and against such imperialistic advances on Mexico, we noticed that these men are discussing similar issues as those we do now. We are still arguing about the same issues as 150 years ago when the U.S. “won” the Mexican-American War and signed the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. When reading a speech in favor of supporting a republican Mexican government from Colonel Rosecrans in the 1850s, we could swear that we heard the same sentiments on NPR the week before. Our past political, social and economic engagements with other countries do not fade away but shape the future of our relationships.
