My name is Sylivia, I was born in Bukoba, Tanzania on April 14, 1979. The early days in my hometown Bukoba are still in my fond memories. I grew up with my younger sisters under our loving parents. My father was a businessman, and my mother was a house mom. Our parents worked hard and afforded a decent life for ... Read More »
We lived on the wrong side of town for people with our skin, and our neighbors would never let us forget that. I had to go. I was fed up. I was only 12 years old, but I knew I deserved better than this. With so much life left to live I had to ask myself, “Renael, is this going ... Read More »
Imagine a woman—40-years-old yet unmarried—in a country that does not recognize her hardships, a country only recently recognized by the United States. Imagine having lived there for her whole life, persecuted by nearly everyone around her, and known by no one in the journey that lies ahead of her. This was China in 1981, a year of great uncertainties and ... Read More »
Editor’s note: Slavery is an integral part of the American story and those who were forced to come to the US in chains, are no less immigrants than any other group. Not only was their freedom taken, but in many cases, their personal family history was lost. On this web site of immigration stories, we pick up their descendants’ story ... Read More »
Piecing together a family’s story of immigration to the United States can be a challenge for many people. Richard Sherman Gordon’s family tree has roots that reach back hundreds of years in America, but most of their stories have been lost over the generations. What remains are tidbits of family lore, and for Rich’s family, there is also a lovingly ... Read More »
Fritz Weinberg originally lived in Norden, but moved to Hamburg with his Jewish family, as it was a bigger, safer city to live in. They considered themselves very poor, as they only had two servants, but in fact had enough money to escape later on in life. Fritz had an older brother who was six years older than he, named ... Read More »
Percy Tredegar Morgan was born in London in 1862 into a distinguished family of Welsh origins. At age 21, after learning bookkeeping, auditing, and other skills, he left England for the United States to work for mining companies in Nevada, Denver and Montana. His experiences and legacy of just the first 15 years of his life in America are amazing. ... Read More »