Why visit ethnic museums?

My dad told us his maternal grandparents were German. They said so themselves when US Census takers came around.

John and Barbara Fritz were actually Luxembourger. 

Identifying as German was typical of 19th-century immigrants from their homeland. I read why at the Luxembourg American Cultural Society’s Roots and Leaves Museum in Belgium, Wisconsin, about 40 minutes north of Milwaukee.

Over the centuries multiple invasions impeded tiny Luxembourg's creation of a national identity. Among the occupiers were the Germanic people known as the Franks, from whose dialect the Luxembourgish language evolved. Luxembourg was one of the Germanic states that formed the German Confederation of 1815. Not until later, and especially after Germany waged two world wars, did Luxembourgers self-identify as a distinct nationality.

You’ll learn such things, and maybe get a boost of ethnic pride, at an ethnic museum. 

“Culturally specific museums,” as they’re called by those in the field, may not be on most people’s must-see lists, but they have much to recommend them whether you want to learn about your own heritage or to broaden your knowledge of other cultures. 

The Roots and Leaves Museum's displays are in one large hall, half of which focuses on Luxembourg history and the other half on Luxembourger immigrants in America. The story is told mostly through text and images. It took my sister Pat and me two hours to finish. Pat, who has spent less time on genealogy than I have, thought the museum very informative. I took notes about details to add to the family history. 

Three-dimensional objects enhance museum presentations, so I hope families donate more heirlooms to the Luxembourger society. Three decades after visiting the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, I still remember the folk costumes, embroidery, and crystal on display. The Cedar Rapids museum was one of two I visited featuring my mother's Slovak roots. The smaller Czechoslovak Heritage Museum in Oak Brook unfortunately lost its lease and closed in 2013.  

When you visit an ethnic center, don’t expect to find the polish of a major museum. Some are substantial, but many are modest galleries founded during the 1960s and 1970s by descendants of immigrants who thought their heritage was missing from mainstream museums. Artifacts and documents donated by families help tell stories about how people lived in the Old Country, why they emigrated, where they settled, and how they and their descendants fared in the New World. Artworks might be highlighted alongside history.

Not limiting my ethnic exploration to my own background, I have been to many of the culturally specific museums in Chicago. It’s often said that you can travel the world without leaving Chicago. Along with ethnic neighborhoods, restaurants, and shops, the city has Mexican, Puerto Rican, Swedish, Polish, Greek, Ukrainian, Chinese, African American, Lithuanian, German, Haitian, Irish, Cambodian, Native American, Asian Indian, and French ethnic museums or cultural centers. Here is a list with which to start.