Columbus Junction was founded in the late 19th century by primarily European migrants. Today, unlike many neighboring towns that are dying, Columbus Junction is booming, thanks to a growing migrant and refugee population from Latin America and Burma. This project includes audio interviews and photographs connecting today’s migrants to those who founded the town in the late 19th century.
Shipley’s photographs are made in dialog with the town’s photographic archive. The archival photographs span from the town’s founding in 1870 to the early 20th century, and feature a community of recent arrivals. These photographs are seen alongside audio interviews of current residents, which focus on the immigrant experience—whether it happened 100 years ago or last year. The stories collected underline a desire for a better life somewhere safe and economically secure. However, we noted that many interviewees felt their experiences to be unique to their race, nationality, and era of migration. These photos and audio interviews offer the chance to consider the similar narratives in different migrant experiences. Using the original photography archives of the town as inspiration for the new portraits, the migrants of today become part of a visual lineage connected to the past, encouraging the residents of the town and people everywhere to recognize the universality of migration in the evolution American places.