Immigrant Hall of Honor Posts New Storytelling Resource for First-Generation Immigrants
The new guided oral history form is designed to make it easier for first-generation immigrants to share and preserve their stories.
The Immigrant Hall of Honor introduces a new storytelling resource designed to reduce the barriers faced by first-generation immigrants who want to share their experiences but may find it difficult to write their immigration story from scratch.
First-generation immigrants have always been welcome to submit their stories to the Immigrant Hall of Honor. Until now, the primary option was a free-form written submission, but we’ve found this format can be a significant barrier for people who aren’t experienced storytellers.
Because the firsthand experiences of contemporary immigrants are an important part of the American story, IHH has created a new IHH-Guided Oral History for First-Generation Immigrants to provide an easier way to get those stories started.
“When we piece together the immigration stories of our ancestors, we often have to guess what they might have been thinking or feeling,” said Jen Ring, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Immigrant Hall of Honor. “It’s an incomplete story, pieced together from census records, ship manifests, draft cards and other research. We cannot go back in time and ask them why they left their home country or what it was like to build a new life in the United States. But we can ask contemporary immigrants these questions and more. And the stories will be better for it.”
The new oral history form guides first-generation immigrants through 10 questions designed to help them tell the story of their journey to the United States.
The questions explore topics such as what brought them to the United States, their first impressions, challenges they encountered, accomplishments they are proud of, the traditions and cultural practices they have maintained, and what they hope to accomplish in the future.
Participants can either type out or record their answers and submit them as MP3 audio files through the form.
After receiving a submission, an IHH storyteller reviews the participant’s responses and uses them to create a narrative draft.
IHH storytellers do more than simply transcribe the responses. They identify the compelling thread within each person’s experiences and craft a headline and opening designed to draw readers into the story. When appropriate, they also research and add historical and cultural context to help readers who may be unfamiliar with the places, traditions, events or circumstances described by the participant.
Throughout the process, IHH aims to preserve the participant’s voice and point of view. The goal is not to rewrite someone’s experience in IHH’s voice, but to help them tell their story in a way that is engaging, understandable and meaningful to a broad American audience.
The participant then reviews the draft before anything is published. They can add details, remove information, correct inaccuracies or request other changes. The final story is not published until the immigrant who told it has reviewed and approved it.
The goal is to make professional storytelling available to people who may have an important story to tell but don’t have the time, confidence or desire to write it themselves.
The new resource is part of IHH’s larger effort to document the many ways immigrants have experienced and contributed to American life.
