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Sumrin Kalia finds a world of knowledge in her journey to the United States
ByImmigrant Hall of Honor September 24, 2026October 14, 2026

IHH Board Member Sumrin Kalia dreamed of studying in the United States ever since her parents emigrated from Pakistan around 2004-2005. Dissatisfied with Pakistan’s governance, Kalia craved outside knowledge. She wanted to understand how different political systems work and why some societies function better than others. Then, she thought, she might be able to improve lives in Pakistan.

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Founding Voices Digital Archives Enterprise, Labor & Land Europe Family & Home Greece Immigrant Legacies Ohio

John K. Manos: From the Mountains of Sparta to the Industrial Midwest
ByImmigrant Hall of Honor September 18, 2026October 14, 2026

John K. Manos first came to America as a teenager, returning to Greece after a devastating leg injury before making his way back to the United States in 1898. Over the next several decades, he would try his hand at a succession of businesses, marry and raise a family, all while struggling to find lasting stability in America.

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Founding Voices Digital Archives Enterprise, Labor & Land Europe Family & Home Immigrant Legacies New York Russia

Stitching a New Life: Fannie Faigen and New York’s Immigrant Garment Industry
ByImmigrant Hall of Honor September 18, 2026October 14, 2026

Fannie Faigen immigrated from Tolochin, Russia to Brooklyn, NY in 1909. At age 17, she found work in New York’s growing garment industry and built a life in one of the city’s burgeoning Jewish immigrant neighborhoods.

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Founding Voices Arts, Culture & Cuisine Contemporary Immigrant Stories Cuba Digital Archives Florida The Americas

Tampa Artist Tatiana Mesa Paján Remembers Havana in Her Art
ByImmigrant Hall of Honor August 23, 2026October 14, 2026

How do you hold on to home when it’s time to leave? For Cuban-born artist Tatiana Mesa Paján, it was through the careful collection of objects. Before leaving Cuba, Mesa Paján took a series of walks through the city, collecting discarded objects along the way.

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Founding Voices Digital Archives Europe Illinois Immigrant Legacies Science & Innovation Sweden

Oscar Johanson Builds a Life in Sweden’s Second City
ByImmigrant Hall of Honor July 19, 2026October 14, 2026

Oscar Hjalmar Johanson thought he’d left economic hardship behind when he boarded the RMS Lucania for America at age 18. In Chicago, the young Swedish immigrant reinvented himself, earning a pharmacy degree from Northwestern University, building a career as a neighborhood druggist, getting married and raising a family.

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Founding Voices Digital Archives Family & Home Immigrant Legacies Mexico Texas The Americas

Across the Rio Grande—The Education of Rafaela Prieto Ochoa
ByImmigrant Hall of Honor July 19, 2026October 14, 2026

When Rafaela Prieto Núñez crossed the Rio Grande to attend school in Laredo, Texas, she was only 16 years old. She did not arrive by chance. She came because an uncle believed that education could change the course of a young woman’s life—and because she was determined to prove him right.

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Founding Voices Digital Archives Enterprise, Labor & Land Europe Germany Immigrant Legacies New York

William Witte and the Making of Modern Queens
ByImmigrant Hall of Honor July 19, 2026October 14, 2026

William Witte, great-grandfather of Immigrant Hall of Honor board member Jim Witte, was a farmer, father and businessman who immigrated to the United States from Germany as a teenager in 1884.

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Founding Voices Digital Archives Enterprise, Labor & Land Europe Family & Home Immigrant Legacies Poland West Virginia

Konstanty Cybulski: From Russian-Ruled Poland to the Coal Mines of West Virginia
ByImmigrant Hall of Honor July 19, 2026October 14, 2026

By the time Konstanti Cybulski entered the world on Aug. 24, 1892, Poland had ceased to exist as an independent nation.

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