On Coming to America

Through the On Coming to America page (formerly the Student Gallery), we warmly invite students, teachers, and community members to share first-hand accounts of tough, timely topics,  such as immigration and displacement – along with stories of those who have found the courage to stand-up and speak out on behalf of others. As we explain on our About page, the Time of Remembrance Project recognizes that history happens one story at a time. We seek to showcase stories not necessarily included in textbooks. We encourage all visitors to this website to explore and document historical events through interviewing family members, community members, authors, educators and others with eyewitness accounts. On Coming to America is an ongoing invitation and project. From audio files to videos recorded on cell phones, mobile devices or cameras, we welcome your immigration stories. As new submissions come in, we will continue to update the page, rearranging and adding new headings as needed. For resources on how to conduct an interview with a refugee or immigrant, check out the links below:

If you have an interview or project that is a match for On Coming to America, please fill out the TOR On Coming to America Submission Form and we will review the project and respond via an email or phone call. 



On Coming to America Stories

Featured Interview: Storming the Tulips, an Interview with Hannie Voyles.

Note: To quickly access specific parts of Hannie’s interview, here is the link to the time codes and short descriptors. Thank you to our partnership with the Sacramento Educational Cable Consortium (SECC) for filming the interview. Interview Resources:

Note: We are saddened to share that Hannie passed away in October 2022 – View her obituary on Legacy.com


The interviews below have been recorded by teachers and students, using whatever devices or technologies available in the moment. We hope they serve as a reminder of the importance of documenting immigration stories from our own communities.

The space below is reserved for your On Coming to America Stories.