100 year old Portuguese history celebrated at a Kings County Museum

HANFORD, Calif. (KFSN) -- In Downtown Hanford, the Carnegie Museum of Kings County is showcasing local history that's over a hundred years old.

Portuguese artifacts, like this passport and photos, date back to the early 1900's.

The exhibit is called Retalhos. It was the idea of Kathi Gulley, a local whose family came from the Azores to the Central Valley.

She is grateful her vision of sharing her ancestor's history has come to fruition.

"Because I am very very proud of their story. And what happened in researching other families is they all have a beautiful story about why they had to leave the place they loved and start over in a new country," says Kathi.

The exhibit walks you through what it was like for Portuguese immigrants settling into a new place.

Stories shared date back to the late 1700's.

Jack Schartz is the museum's president. He has been working behind the scenes to make the exhibit happen.

"We have the opportunity to showcase different aspects of Kings county history and our mission is to bring Kings County history to life through preservation and education," mentions Jack.

Retalhos is one of three Portuguese exhibit's that will be on display this year.

The Carnegie Museum will host a cultural focused exhibit in May and one on economics in September.

"By doing the themed exhibitions we are allowing different segments of the community to come in and learn about the history of the community that they may not have had that opportunity before," Jack explains.

The exhibit was made possible by donations of stories and borrowed stories.

Kathi hopes people will take this opportunity to learn about their own history.

Kathi says, "Encourage people to talk to their children now, talk to your grandparents now, take your phone and go sit with your old aunt that is the last one alive of her generation and go get her story."

The museum is open each Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 5 PM, through the next couple of months.

Tickets are $2 for children under 12 and $5 for people 12 and up with a maximum of $10 per family unit.

For more details and information visit the Carnegie Museum of Kings County's website here.

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