Abdi was born and grew up in Kismayo, Somalia. After the outbreak of civil war in 1991, he went to a small town, Doble, near the Kenyan border. Two years later, he returned to Kismayo and ran his own business. He later went to South Africa, where he again ran his own business. He began the resettlement process in 2010 and finally came to the ...
Creator:
Khalif, Abdi
Created:
2014-11
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Abdirahman Kahin was born in Djibouti and immigrated to the United States in 1996. He has lived in Minnesota since 1997. After working for several years in media production, he created Afro Deli, a popular East African restaurant in Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis. In 2015, he opened its second location in St. Paul.
Creator:
Kahin, Abdirahman
Created:
2015
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Abdullah Lami immigrated to the United States from Iraq along with his family to attain a better education. While life was initially challenging as he missed his culture, learned a new language, and faced racial discrimination, life eventually became easier.
Creator:
Lami, Abdullah
Created:
2019-06-05
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Adam Chisholm was born around 1695 in Scotland. Due to being a rebel soldier in the Jacobite Rebellion, he was exiled to the American Colonies where he worked as an indentured servant for seven years before starting a family.
Creator:
Davidson, Isabelle
Created:
2018-11-27
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
This is the story about the narrator's parents, who found love after coming from different backgrounds. The mother was a Moroccan Jew who had fled to Israel , and the father was a Polish Jew who had fled to the United States and met his wife on a trip to Israel. They moved to the United States and started a family, raising their children with el...
Creator:
Fine, Adam
Created:
2019-03-26
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Adam's father was born in Mexico and grew up in Los Angeles. His mother was born and raised in the Twin Cities. They met in Los Angeles in the 70's, where he and his brother were born. The family moved to Minnesota when he was still a baby. He has lived in Minnesota his entire life.
Creator:
Martinez, Adam
Created:
2014-03-20 - 2014-06-20
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Afsaneh Nozari and her family fled Iran after the Shah was overthrown. After enduring several hardships, she made it to the United States and began a new life there.
Creator:
Crawford, Catherine
Created:
2018-12-10
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Ahmay Ya was born in Burma in 1987. Her father is a well-known Karen activist, and Ahmay was forced to hide her true identity while growing up. During her final year of university, the Burmese government discovered the truth and she was forced to flee the country. She lived in a Thai refugee camp for several years before coming to the United St...
Creator:
Ya, Ahmay
Contributor:
Venditto, Elizabeth; Yang, Mai (Editor)
Created:
2015-03-20 - 2015-06-20
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Ahsan is a refugee from Afghanistan. He was separated from his family as they fled the Taliban and was the only one able to escape to Europe. He must now deal with a new culture while worrying about his family back home.
Creator:
Demmelmaier, Franziska
Created:
2019-01-31
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Aide Esthela Garcia was born in Mexico City, Mexico. She first came to Los Angeles, CA to visit her father. Nine months later, she moved to Minnesota. After working there for nine years, she began her studies at Century College in 2014.
Creator:
Garcia, Aide
Created:
2015-03-20 - 2015-06-20
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Aki Berndt was born in 1955 in Mönchengladbach, Germany. He married an American woman and lived in Berlin before moving to Minnesota in 2000. After he lost his job as an architect in 2009, he began to bake bread and opened his own bakery, Aki's BreadHaus, in Minneapolis in 2014.
Contributor:
Smith, Madison
Created:
2017-05-02
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Alaina Qurshi was born in Karachi, Pakistan. She moved to America with her mother at six months old to be with her father, who had been adopted into an American family at a young age. Although her father became very americanized, he still kept close contact with his family back in Pakistan remaining some tradition within his life, which then lea...
Creator:
Ryan Whitacre
Created:
2018-05-01
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Alejandra's mother was her first family member to emigrate to the United States. Alejandra stayed in Mexico with her father while her mother and later brothers emigrated, but she finally joined them in Minnesota years later.
Creator:
Cruz Blanco, Alejandra
Created:
2014-09-22 - 2014-12-21
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Alessandra Inojosa was born in Fortaleza, Brazil. She moved to the United States with her husband and son on September 3, 2011 because her husband, who worked from 3M, was transferred to Minnesota.
Creator:
Inojosa, Alessandra
Created:
2015-03-20 - 2015-06-20
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Alexa Brill was born in China in 1996. She was adopted at 9 months old and grew up in Seymour, Wisconsin. Alexa studied sociology and economics at St. Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin.
Creator:
Sabrowsky, Kelly
Created:
2016-03-20 - 2016-06-20
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Alex Philstrom moved from England to the US with her family in 1982 when she was two years old. Because she was so young when she immigrated she quickly lost her accent, which she laments as an adult. Alex’s parents both have British accents. Alex passes as an American because she does not have an accent. Her parents, however, are asked where th...
Creator:
Philstrom, Alexandra
Created:
2017-08-25
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Alfonso Tinoco was born in 1999 in Uriangato, Mexico. In 2012 he moved to the United States with his mother and father. After a short time in Missouri, the family moved to Ohio. Though he spent his first two years in ESL courses, Alfonso moved into AP English in his third year.
Creator:
Whitted, Benjamin
Created:
2018-05-01
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Ali Salbri was born in Tunis, Tunisia in 1959. In 1981 Ali moved to Paris, France to study and returned home in 1983. He spent several years in Brussels and Oslo before moving back to Tunisia in 1989. In 1990 obtained a Canadian tourist visa and attempted to move there, spending 6 months in Berkeley. In 1995, after not being allowed to move to C...
Creator:
Raach, Malek
Created:
2017-11-27
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Alma Price was born in Mexico City, Mexico in 1976. After the death of her husband she decided to move to the United States with her two children. She now lives in Anchorage, Alaska.
Creator:
Pierce, Alma
Created:
2017-12-14
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Amara Baja was born in a refugee camp in Thailand. His family was resettled in the United States on August 10, 2010. The family first lived in Twin Falls, ID before relocating to St. Paul, Minnesota.
Creator:
Baja, Amara
Created:
2016-03-20 - 2016-06-20
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Amilyn grew up in the province of Abuyog Leyte, Phillipines with her parents and sibligns. She met her husband, an American, in the Phillipines. Amilyn came to the United STates in March 2006 to be with her hsuband. They live in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Creator:
Theisen, Amilyn
Created:
2015-01
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Amina was born in Somalia and came to Kenya as a refugee in 2005. She met and married her husband in Kenya. On July 23, 2013, she came to the United States. She lived in Boston for two months and then moving to Minnesota. She works and attends English as a Second Language classes. She had her husband have four children.
Creator:
Shire, Amina
Created:
2014-11
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Amir Hisham came to the United States from Malaysia to further his education. He dealt with language barriers and cultural differences, which he overcame with the help of friends and hard work.
Creator:
Takeshita, Dennis
Created:
2018-12-13
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Anab Adan Gulaid grew up in Hargeisa, Somalia. After the outbreak of the Somali civil war in late 1990, she left Somalia with several family members and moved to Toronto, Canada, where she went to school and became a Canadian citizen. After marrying her husband, she moved the United States, living first in Chicago and then Minnesota. She is a me...
Creator:
Gulaid, Anab
Created:
2015-07-11 - 2015-07-12
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Angelica Garcia was born in Cuichapa, Veracruz, Mexico in 1977. She moved to the United States with her husband without knowing much English. In 2014 she began taking English classes at Second Start.
Creator:
Garcia, Angelica
Created:
2017-09-19
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Anh-Thu Phan is a social justice activist who was born in Saigon, Vietnam. Her family left the country at the end of the American war in Vietnam. They resettled in Minnesota with the help of a Lutheran church. Motivated by her family’s experiences, Anh began her work as an anti-war activist with Amnesty International in her high school and joi...
Creator:
Pham, Anh-Thu
Created:
2014-09-22 - 2014-12-21
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
This story is about Anja Cain, who grew up in West Berlin. Her parents were resistance fighters against the Berlin Wall, leading to their hardship and her mother's capture. Anja then met her husband through mutual friends and they moved to the United States with their children, even though this was sometimes a difficult adjustment for Anja.
Creator:
Cain, Juliette
Created:
2018-11-29
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Chloe Pickwell tells the story of her mother's family migration to the United States from Scottland in the 1600s. The family worked mainly in agriculture.
Creator:
Chloe Pickwell
Created:
2018-05-13
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Antonio Gutierrez was born in La manzanilla Jalisco,Mexico on January 17,1951. At the age of 16 he was forced to immigrate to Californa. There he met and fell in love with Anna Wildman. This story was created by Emily Ramirez, a student at Berkeley City College.
Creator:
Ramirez, Emily
Created:
2017-12-12
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Archanaa Suntharalingam was born in Malaysia in 1995. She grew up in Kuala Lumpur and came to the United States in 2016 to study at the University of Minnesota.
Creator:
Star, Deena
Created:
2017-05-15
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Ariana Yang was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1991. Her parents were from the Xiangkhoang province in Laos and were forced to flee the country because of the Secret War. They lived in refugee camps in Thailand before coming to the United States as refugees.
Creator:
Yang, Ariana
Created:
2015-05-15
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Arminda Rodriguez migrated from Mexico to the US illegally to provide a better life for her children. She underwent several hardships before becoming a legal resident and being able to give her children an education.
Creator:
Silva, Rubi
Created:
2019-12-03
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
This is the story of Ashley Montalvo's father and grandmother, who came to the mainland United States from Puerto Rico and, despite being citizens, faced discrimination and cultural barriers. Today, Ashley is aware of her heritage and partakes in a hybrid blend of cultures.
Creator:
Montalvo, Ashley
Created:
2018-11-29
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
This story is about the narrator's parents leaving China to escape the daily political repression they experienced there. They moved to Canada and then the United States, having to start over their careers from scratch while starting a family.
Creator:
Lee, Avery
Created:
2018-11-02
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Ayan Omar was born in Somalia in 1993. Her family left Somalia 2005 and went to Kenya. They came to the United States in 2007. Ayan is a student at Century College.
Creator:
Omar, Ayan
Created:
2015-03-20 - 2015-06-20
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Aye Mi San was born in the Karen state of Burma. She has two children, a daughter and a son. She arrived in the United States in December 2015. She currently lives in St. Paul and is a student at the Hubbs Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Creator:
San, Aye Mi
Created:
2015-04
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Azil Jahanbakhsh was born and grew up in Iran, but, after the tragic death of his older brother, moved with his family to Germany to have a fresh start. In Germany, he was discovered as a soccer star and moved to New York to play soccer, where he would settle down and start a family.
Creator:
Tiller, Jackson
Created:
2018-11-29
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Banlang Phommasouvanh was born in Laos in 1946. She studied in France on a scholarship. After the outbreak of war in Laos, she and her family fled the country and came to the United States. Banlang has a BA from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and an MAE from Ball State University. She was a Minneapolis public school teacher.
Creator:
Phommasouvanh, Banlang
Contributor:
Venditto, Elizabeth; Tychsen, Ketmanee Mary (Editor)
Created:
2015
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
This is the story of Barry Sherbeck, who grew up traveling around the Middle East with his missionary parents. He frequently returned to the United States, including for his college education, but also explored South East Asia as part of his job, where he met his wife.
Creator:
Sherbeck, Dana
Created:
2019-05-06
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Beatriz Ibarra de Botero was born in Colombia in 1948. She came to the United States to join several of her children who were already living in the United States. She is currently working and studying English.
Creator:
Ibarra de Botero, Beatriz
Created:
2015-03-20 - 2015-06-20
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Bee was born in Xieng Khouang, Laos. His father died during the “Secret War” in Laos. Bee immigrated to the US in 1987 with his wife and children. He first settled in Wisconsin and later moved to Minnesota. He is currently the director of the Volunteers of America Park Elder Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Creator:
Vue, Bee
Contributor:
Yang, Mai (Editor, Translator)
Created:
2014-09-22 - 2014-12-21
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Belle "Bella" Friedman" was born in Chicago in 1916. Her parents and older siblings had emigrated from Lithuania in 1914. Bella married Haskell Friedman, who was also from a family of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, in 1940. They raised their family in Jainesville, Wisconsin, where they ran a general store.
Creator:
Hill-Dongre, Marissa
Created:
2017-06-29
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Be Mo was born in Burma in 1993 and grew up in a Thai refugee camp. In 2007, her family moved to the United States, living first in Phoenix, AZ and then St. Paul, Minnesota. She is currently a student at St. Paul Community College.
Creator:
Mo, Be
Created:
2015-03-20 - 2015-06-20
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Betula Ali's family moved from Somalia to Ethiopia during a war. They came to the U.S. in 2012. Though it has taken them some time to navigate the new culture, weather, and language, they have overcame all of their challenges by supporting each other.
Creator:
Ali, Betula
Contributor:
Rolland, Isabella
Created:
2021-12-13
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
Bing Hsiang Hsieh was born in China in 1925. He left his family and moved to Taiwan in 1940 to escape war, which is where he met his wife. This digital story is an excerpt from a larger family history project. The whole video can be seen at hsiehfamilyproject.com.
Creator:
Catedral, Lydia
Contributed By:
University of Minnesota, Immigration History Research Center
