Local Kiwanian celebrates her immigrant experience through song, storytelling

A South Arlington Kiwanis Club member brought her own story of immigration to life during the opening of an exhibit showcasing Virginia’s rich cultural heritage.

Ingrid Morroy and her twin sister, Judith, performed in concert at the July 13 opening of “We the People: The World in Our Commonwealth” exhibition at the Arlington Historical Museum.

The two are natives of Suriname, but have carved out lives of achievement in Virginia: Judith, older by 40 minutes, with the World Bank, and Ingrid, who served 20 years as Arlington’s elected commission of revenue.

“This country has given us so much opportunity, but we miss certain things” about their homeland, Ingrid Morroy acknowledged during a 45-minute concert helping to open the exhibition.

Music was a major part of the family’s life while the twins and their three siblings were growing up.

They learned English while growing up in Suriname through musical lyrics. The Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Everly Brothers were among favorites.

Even in South America, “you’re so exposed to [U.S.] culture,” Ingrid Morroy said.

(Another sister preferred French music and culture, eventually marrying a French native and settling down there.)

“We the People: The World in Our Commonwealth” is a traveling exhibit of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture. The Arlington Historical Society was able to secure it as part of the nation’s 250th-anniversary celebrations.

David Pearson, past president of the historical society, said the sisters were “the two perfect people to accompany the ‘We the People’ exhibit.”

“They’re both very notable,” Pearson said.

The concert features an eclectic mix, with songs ranging from the Beatles to international folk ballads, with tales of their upbringing and experiences intermixed.

“Our mother had a lot of old Indonesian music — we used to hear it in the house,” Judith Morroy said.

That house is still standing, she said, but much of the surrounding neighborhood bears little resemblance to the community of the twins’ youth.

Though it has a statewide focus, the traveling “We the People” exhibition has a significant number of local mentions.

“A lot of the immigration stories in Virginia began here in Arlington,” Pearson said.

Among the Arlington stories told in the exhibition include how a portion of Clarendon in the 1970s-80s became Little Saigon, with stores and restaurants operated by South Vietnamese refugees, and the efforts of Arlington educator Dr. Emma Violand-Sánchez and others starting in the 1970s to push for a local commitment to educating immigrant children.

Last year, the South Arlington Kiwanis Club honored Violand-Sánchez with its second annual Harro & Janie Wulf Legendary Service Award, celebrating her work in the community.

(Adapted in part from coverage that initially ran in ARLnow.)