The Valentine Explores the Diversity of the Latino Experience in Richmond

By Dina Weinstein
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Originally posted in Style Weekly

In a photograph of Federico Xol, the mustachioed Guatemala-born man stands in the middle of the frame staring into the camera without smiling. 

Xol is positioned on the shoulder of a road with Jefferson Davis Highway and Chippenham Parkway signs slightly blurred in the background. It is not an elegant setting. A viewer feels nervous about Xol's safety given the potential for speeding traffic.

The photograph is part of the Valentine museum's new exhibit, "Nuestras Historias: Latinos in Richmond," which documents the region›s diverse Latino experiences.  After listening to Xol tell his story in Spanish, which plays continually, it becomes clear that this spot is significant because it was his first encounter with Richmond. This was the place where he met his brother after descending from a bus, following a long journey atop the infamous Bestia, or Beast train, which thousands of Central Americans precariously ride through Mexico on their way to the United States. He made the dangerous journey because of conflict in his homeland.

Kids play in a ditch in an area known as La Mancha in Southwood in a photo by Jose Henriquez Jr.

Through interviews, objects and images, "Nuestras Historias" — which means "our stories" in English — is the first exhibit of its kind at the museum and the first to include completely bilingual signs. It notes that there are approximately 100,000 Latinos living in the Richmond metropolitan area who represent many backgrounds. 

Though its website, the museum explains the goal of the exhibit: to tell the smaller stories of Latinos who immigrated to Richmond as well as the larger story of how the group established permanent ties through institutions and businesses, and began to transform Richmond's culture. The Spanish, it reminds us, were some of the first explorers to travel up the James River.

One of the first Hispanic-owned institutions in the Richmond area was the restaurant La Siesta Mexica opened by the Zejur family in 1972. Included in the exhibit is the original wooden Siesta Man that was meant to symbolize Mexican culture but it holds a negative connotation now.