Many children born between 1962 and 1975 have come to the US as refugees and adoptees. This gathering brings together to share and explore their history. The records from April 1975 is what we have accessible, but there are so much more. They are in the attics of parents who save every newspaper and paperwork they had, artifacts brought over from the homeland, the last rmenants of a previous live. We are coming together to share these and learn from one another in April.

This is happening with the help of your donation.

Invisible Threads runs April 9–12, 2026 at East Window Gallery and CU Boulder.

All events free and open to the public. We'd love for you to join us.

THE GATHERING

Thursday, April 9 The Operation Babylift Collection makes its first public appearance in My Name Is Mimosa, an exhibition of photographs, flight manifests, and personal histories from 1975. That evening, Sister Mary Nelle Gage — the woman who protected these records for decades — joins Devaki Murch and Steven George for a welcome evening of remembrance at CU Boulder, followed by a screening of The Adoptees trailer and conversation with filmmaker Mike Frailey.

Friday, April 10 The exhibition continues at East Window Gallery. In the afternoon, a facilitated group discussion tackles the legal, identity, and citizenship dimensions of transnational adoption — The Fine Print of Belonging. That evening, the Invisible Threads StoryShare brings together adoptees and community members sharing personal testimony in their own voices: Huyền Friedlander, Ingrid Templeton, Mike Frailey, Derek Powell, Lani Lang, and Kim Delevett, hosted by Deanna Byck.

Saturday, April 11 Award-winning author Andrew Lam leads a limited writing workshop at the Boulder Main Library — a three-hour session writing a traditional letter to someone you know, admire, or love. The afternoon brings five Operation Babylift authors together for BookTalk: Andrew Lam, Ross Meador, Noel Nguyen, LeAnn Thiemann, and Aryn Lockhart. That evening, three filmmakers in conversation: Thanh Tan on We Were Soldiers, Too with journalist Jeremy Hubbard, Tran Van Kirk on Intersections, and Devaki Murch on Archives in Love and War.

Sunday, April 12 The final day of the My Name Is Mimosa exhibition, with archive review open to walk-ins. In the afternoon, First Family Search — a community discussion guided by Huyền Friedlander and Jane MyHanh Joy of Con Tìm Mẹ — creates space for Vietnamese adoptees exploring the emotional, practical, and ethical pathways of family reconnection.

Your support makes this possible.

The gathering itself is free — because access matters and these stories belong to everyone. But behind every free event are real costs: travel for adoptees who couldn't otherwise attend, archival preservation, oral history recording, and the operational work of bringing a scattered community home.

We are raising $15,000 to cover the expenses and logistics of the event. Every gift supports the ongoing stewardship of the Operation Babylift Collection and the trauma-informed methodology that has made this work possible.

Presented by StoryScope Studio · Fiscal Sponsor: Torrey House Press (501(c)(3)) operationbabylift.org · devaki@operationbabylift.org

Invisible Threads Gathering

4 day StoryShare event in Boulder Colorado

Team Members