A Richmond Scholars Latino Initiative (SLI) scholar is included in the “We the People: The World in Our Commonwealth” exhibition at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture (VMHC).
Lindsay Zambrano Perdomo, who is pictured and quoted in a display titled “Our Stories,” is salutatorian of the 2026 class of Huguenot High School, and will speak at her graduation in June.
A signature component of the VMHC’s multi-year 250th Initiative, the exhibition includes “deeply personal narratives of individuals born in 68 countries who sought freedom, opportunity, and refuge by immigrating to the United States.” Featuring more than 100 voices, it “explores the many people who, over centuries, have made Virginia the unique place it is in America and in the world, and the dramatic impact of the immigrant experience throughout Virginia’s history as people arrived from the four corners of the globe.”
After she became the first Hispanic “Ms. HHS” at her school a year ago, Lindsay was invited to be interviewed by the museum. In the two-hour interview, she was asked about her culture, her experiences in Honduras and the United States, and if she ever felt the need to change in order to fit in.
“The people who interviewed me made me feel like my life is something very interesting and different,” she said. “I never thought of it that way, but after that interview I felt like I mattered.”
This March, Lindsay received an invitation to the exhibition opening, which she and her mom attended along with SLI program director Ester Orellana. After speeches from VMHC President and CEO Jamie Bosket, Virginia Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Ghazala Hashmi, and the exhibition curators Julie Kemper and Noah Tinsley, they ate snacks, and “finally got to go see me,” Lindsay said.
“When I walked in the room the first thing I saw was my picture and a quote I said in the interview,” she said. “I couldn’t believe what was going on, and I hugged my mom and started crying on her shoulder because it was so special.”
Lindsay plans to major in biology at Randolph-Macon College and become a dermatologist.
