Ever wonder how Renton got to be so diverse? Two new exhibits at the Renton History Museum take a look at how the country became populated with a diverse group of people and how Renton grew during the 1940s.

“Journey Stories,” a Smithsonian exhibit brought to Renton by the organizations Museum on Main Street and Humanities Washington, opened this week and runs through Oct. 15. The companion exhibit, “Boomtown! Renton During World War II,” opened as well and focuses on how the city’s population almost quadrupled in the 1940s.

The opening of the exhibit “Journey Stories” begins with these lines:

“A mobile people in a vast land: Some of us were here already.”

“Some of us came hoping for a better life.”

“Some of us came in chains.”

“And all of us are still in motion; we all have journey stories.”

Beginning with the explorers, colonists, indentured servants and slaves who came to America, “Journey Stories” looks back at history through the eyes of those who lived it. In photographs, illustrations, quotes, audio commentary, maps and flip books, the exhibit comes to life.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to think about one of the things that makes the United States unique, which is the fact that we’re so mobile and we started as a country full of immigrants,” said Liz Stewart, museum director. “And we’ve remained that way.”

In seven sections the Smithsonian exhibit gives an overview of the American experience from its earliest beginnings.

Sarah Samson, museum collection manager, flipped through five years of old newspapers and went through archives at the Museum of Flight and The Boeing Co. to do research for “Boomtown! Renton During World War II.”

She used real headlines from the newspapers to come up with the section titles for the exhibit.

The museum spent three months working on “Boomtown!,” which features pictures, oral histories, a map, a Rosie the Riveter uniform, a nurse’s pinafore, cap and several other items from the 1940s.

In three sections, “Boomtown!” highlights first the people from all over the country who came to work at Boeing to build the B-29 Flying Fortress and Pacific Car and Foundry to build Sherman tanks.

The population influx caused the city to have to change quickly to deal with all of the new people and it caused the people who lived here to learn how to deal with a new large community, said Samson.

“Because it had previously been a sleepy little town where everybody knew everybody and suddenly it just exploded,” she said.

The second section talks about the physical changes that the city went through having to house thousands of new workers quickly.

Having to deal with social services that were no longer up to date, they had to build the wagon-wheel hospital – the Renton Hospital – that occupied the space now taken by McLendon Hardware. A map shows where housing was built in the Highlands at a frantic pace.

“I think one of the things I was surprised about was how kind of organized the Renton Housing Authority was and they were on top of it quickly,” said Samson.

She found that it wasn’t without its problems, which leads to the third segment of the exhibit that features peoples’ oral histories.

They have an account of the time period as described by Frank Conklin, head of the Renton Housing Authority Projects. One of the museum’s volunteers, Pearl Jacobson, also contributed her experiences moving here in 1943 from a small town in North Dakota, after her father got a job at Boeing.

“Journey Stories” and “Boomtown!” features pictures and information easily understood by all ages.

Admission is a suggested donation of $3 for adults, $1 for kids. The museum is at 235 Mill Ave. S. Hours at 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.