This exhibit of inspirational portraits, presented by nationally known professional photographer Mark Chester, offers a moving display of more than 450 naturalized U.S. citizens who hail from 189 of the 195 countries and territories around the globe and are now residents of the Commonwealth. The Bay State: A Multicultural Landscape—Photographs of New Americans may be viewed this May 1 through June 30 at the Eldredge Public Library, located at 546 Main Street in Chatham. Library hours are: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday, 1:00-9:00 p.m.

A Meet and Greet with Mark Chester will be held on Thursday, June 22 at 7:00 p.m. at the library. The keynote speaker on Monday, June 26 at 7:00 p.m. will be Daniel Tichenor. He is the Philip H. Knight Chair of Political Science and the director of the Program on Democratic Engagement and Governance of the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics at the University of Oregon. As Tichenor observes, “Although the United States is a nation built upon immigration, the subject has been a source of contentious debate since the founding generation. This talk will help shed light on the practical and philosophical origins of these differences over immigrant admissions and rights, and encourage audience members to reflect on several important policy dilemmas.”