The history of Italian Americans in St. Joseph County reaches back to the early 1900s, when 27 people settled in the area for a new life and work. By the 1930s, that number had expanded to the thousands. Through May 4, the exhibit Traditions and Progress: Italian Americans in Northern Indiana at The History Museum tells these immigrants' and their descendants' stories of how they built businesses and established a new life.

Joe Agostino, Sam Germano and Karen Radde — all descendants of Italian immigrants — gathered at the museum not only to share their families' stories but to also tell how this exhibit came to be with the assistance of The History Museum and its staff.