Our Voices: Stories from Washington’s Southeast Asian Refugees is a feature exhibition at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma that is open to visitors through July 12, 2026. The museum will also host a free event centered on this exhibition on March 21, 2026 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will commemorate Southeast Asian American cultures and histories with games, performances, and speakers, including closing remarks by state Rep. My-Linh Thai. To learn more about the exhibition and the upcoming event, visit: https://www.washingtonhistory.org/
Our Voices is a thoughtfully curated overview of the history and resettlement of Southeast Asian refugees from Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam in Washington state. The exhibition includes a rich array of primary and secondary sources, including oral histories, personal letters, news stories, photos, and textiles such as Hmong story cloths. The multimedia images offer a glimpse into community, familial, and intergenerational memories spanning over three generations.
The exhibition implicitly depicts the lasting impact of wartime trauma on Southeast Asian American communities and people. However, in a challenge to one-dimensional representations of Southeast Asian refugees and their descendants as merely consequences of war, the exhibition captures how they have made America their own, including an overview of their many contributions to our state’s culture, economy, and social institutions.
The first wave of Southeast Asian refugee families also navigated complex social institutions and systems with the support of churches, state agencies, and Washingtonians from diverse backgrounds. Over the past 50 years, Southeast Asian American Washingtonians have built and sustained dynamic co-ethnic communities to maintain cultural continuity while also sharing their cultures and traditions with others.
The entire exhibition includes bilingual materials and translations. Centering Southeast Asian languages will help visitors, especially those whose first language is English, appreciate the centrality of language as communities engage in cultural preservation efforts. At stations throughout the space, spiral-bound booklets are displayed with prompts such as “Why did you come to the United States/How did you get to the United States?” In both recorded and written responses, Southeast Asian American Washingtonians from diverse backgrounds share deeply moving first-person narratives in both English and in their respective heritage languages about their journeys before, during, and after resettlement. Some contributions include Washingtonians who are not Southeast Asian Americans; these are primarily individuals who have advocated for and supported families with resettlement efforts.
In writing this article, I was able to connect with Derek Nguyen, Director of Marketing and Communications at the Washington State History Museum & Historical Society. Nguyen is the proud son of a Vietnamese refugee and shared the personal significance of this exhibition in his own words:
“When my dad was 18, he escaped Saigon under the cover of night in a small, overcrowded, and barely seaworthy fishing boat. While at sea, pirates attacked, taking everything of value and leaving everyone aboard to fend for themselves…In the Bay Area, my dad worked days in a Vietnamese restaurant and slept on the floor at night. He learned English by attending classes and watching TV, earned his citizenship, earned a place at Cal Poly, and went on to engineer technology for some of the world’s leading companies. The adversity my dad overcame, his resilience, and his grace continue to inspire me. His story is just one among thousands of Vietnamese refugees whose stories should be shared.”
Nguyen also shared more about how this project came to be over email, including how the exhibition supports Washington State Historical Society’s mission to partner “with our communities to explore how history connects us all.”
Rachel Endo: Which key individuals and organizations made this exhibition possible?
Derek Nguyen: In 2025, the WSHS began the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of Southeast Asian resettlement to Washington State with the development of curriculum for OSPI that focused on Vietnamese resettlement [Oral Histories of Vietnamese Resettlement in Washington State | OER Commons]. We partnered with the following people and organizations for that curriculum:
- Legacy Washington and the Washington State Secretary of State’s Office provided access to the Oral Histories, which are featured in this curriculum.
- Friends of Little Saigon, in particular Anh Nguyen, partnered to provide insightful input, feedback, and review.
- John Tran at the University of Washington provided a review and a critical historical and cultural perspective.
- Members of the Society’s Curriculum Contractor’s Cohort reviewed the curriculum at key points throughout the process, from inception to completion.
- Barbara Soots (OSPI) and the Washington State’s Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Our Voices continues the commemoration and broadens the focus to share more Southeast Asian communities and refugee stories. The exhibition is a collaborative partnership with and the Secretary of State’s Legacy Washington, as well as support provided from the ALL Foundation. Its graphic treatment was designed by Lisa Ha.
RE: How does this exhibition uniquely align with the society’s mission and strategic plan?
DN: The Washington State Historical Society partners with our communities to explore how history connects us all. Washington is home to over 100,000 Vietnamese Americans, making it the nation’s third-largest Vietnamese diaspora. In 1975, Governor Daniel J. Evans welcomed 500 Southeast Asian refugees to Washington.
The remarkable stories from this community have a place in our state’s history. Our organization continues to share stories from communities statewide. We hope visitors can learn about the remarkable sacrifices and determination of Southeast Asian refugees as they pursued a better life and about their contributions to our nation.
Acknowledgements: the author thanks Derek Nguyen for contributing to this story.
Rachel Endo is an award-winning educator, leader, and scholar who is currently based in the Tacoma area. She was born and raised in Nebraska and hails from a multi-generational Nikkei family. A first-generation college student, she graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with honors, where she also earned her MA in Education and MPA in Public Management . She holds a PhD in Education from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. To learn more, including how to contact her directly, visit her website at: www.rachelendo.com
