Emma Pena McCleaf, a project participant with the Mexican American History Project of Greeley, said the exhibit Our History, Our Voice was created after community members told organizers "we need more information about Latinos, Mexican Americans out there" because those histories "are not in the books, [or] in the newspapers." The exhibit, and a companion book, aim to record and share those local histories.

McCleaf highlighted several stories in the collection, including a family narrative she described this way: "the border has crossed them three times" '1 they were Spanish, then Mexican, then part of the United States. She also recounted an account of migrants traveling in the back of a truck during a rainstorm, with "about 20 to 30 people in the back of a truck with a tarp over the top," as one illustration of migration experiences captured in the project.

"One of the things that we really wanted to do was, focus on what our contributions have been," McCleaf said, noting the exhibit emphasizes labor contributions in agriculture, meatpacking and current industries such as fracking "to show how much our contributions have been just to the success of Greeley." The project collects oral histories and written material intended to document those contributions for residents and visitors.

McCleaf described roles of several partner organizations. She said Cache La Poudre (Cache La Poudre River National Heritage Area) provided funding and publishing support after the project lost its primary author. The City of Greeley Museums has provided meeting space and hosted exhibits; McCleaf said this is the third exhibit the project has done with the Greeley History Museum and that the group holds a community fiesta (this was the third annual). The University of Northern Colorado provided archival access and will archive the project's materials; the High Plains Library District opened a boardroom for the project to film early phases of production.

The exhibit is on view at the Greeley History Museum, 714 Eighth Street in Greeley, and copies of the book are available for purchase at the museum. McCleaf said the project plans to make videos and related materials available through UNC Digital in the near future; "they're full length on there," she said.

The interview at the museum underscores organizers' intent to fill gaps in public records and local collections by documenting Mexican American history through partnerships that combine funding, archival preservation and public programming.