EVERY IMMIGRATION STORY MATTERS

TELL YOUR FAMILY’S IMMIGRATION STORY

At the Immigrant Hall of Honor, we celebrate immigrants whose journeys helped shape America and the world. Many of the individuals we honor, such as Albert Einstein, Hedy Lamarr, and Madeleine Albright, arrived in the United States as immigrants and went on to make extraordinary and lasting contributions.

But history is not only written by the famous. It is written by families, communities, and individuals whose stories deserve to be remembered.

We invite you to share your own immigration story, or the story of a family member or friend who came to America in search of opportunity, freedom, or a better life. We want to hear about the hardships faced, the fears overcome, the challenges of starting over, and the determination it took to build a life, raise a family, start a business, or contribute to a community.

FREE STORYTELLING resources

DON’T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN?

Consider downloading our free guide, “A Beginner’s Guide to Telling Your Family’s American Immigration Story.” Once you sign up, the guide will be delivered straight to your inbox. You’ll also receive our monthly e-newsletter featuring storytelling tips, historical context, and immigration stories that inspire us.

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Are you a first-generation immigrant? We’ve created a guided oral history experience to help you tell your story. You’ll answer 10 questions about your journey, and an IHH storyteller will use your responses to create a 500–1,000-word story for you to review and approve.

READY TO SHARE YOUR STORY?

LET’S GET STARTED

First, gather everything together

We encourage you to take your time, gather meaningful photos, and tell the story in your own words. Your submission helps preserve the immigrant experience for generations to come. As part of the story submission process, you’ll be asked to confirm permission for us to showcase your story and photos across our digital platforms, in museum exhibits, and in educational materials. This allows us to responsibly honor and share these stories with a wider audience.

Friends and family might have some input

Before you submit, consider collaborating with other friends or family members who might have something to add about the story of your nominee. We encourage you to write your story first, and then copy and paste it into the form below. Your story can be up to 7,000 characters (including spaces), and you can do a free character count with this Grammerly character counter.

When you’re ready, complete the form

When you have your story ready to submit, complete the form below, and don’t forget to collect and upload any photos you are willing to share.

COMPLETE THE FORM

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This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Name(Required)
First names only and pseudonyms are acceptable. If using a pseudonym, please write ‘(pseudonym)’ after the name. You may also enter ‘Anonymous.’
Please enter the name of the person who encouraged you to connect with us so we can thank them for the referral.
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