“We’re all immigrants,” Erin Mast said to me, describing “American by Belief,” an exhibit on immigration and refugees at President Lincoln’s Cottage on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Petworth. Ms. Mast is the Executive Director of the Cottage and spoke to me about the exhibit while they were doing the initial install. 

“Some of us immigrated by choice, others by force,” she said. “This exhibit is the story of President Lincoln’s effort to encourage immigration in the US and tell the story of how people choose to come here.”

(Ed Note: This article was previously published on October 21, 2015 when the Lincoln's Cottage exhibit first opened. The article, and the immigration exhibit, are arguably even more relevant today. I recommend you check it and and add your own immigration story to the wall.)