On October 29th, The Immigrant Story published its 200th story. In celebration of this exciting milestone, we want to share some of the highlights of the past four years.

When The Immigrant Story began in 2017, we couldn’t have anticipated the diversity of stories we would document, the variety of formats we would employ, the number of exhibitions we would hold, the various events we would sponsor, and the energy and expertise of our volunteers. In four years, our efforts have grown from documenting stories in short form narratives to long form stories, podcasts, videos, live storytelling, and exhibitions. In the process we have become a premiere storytelling platform in the Pacific Northwest.

We have shared the stories of 200 immigrants from 72 countries, nearly 90% of whom are people of color. About 40 percent of our stories are from refugees, including 41 survivors who faced genocides, atrocities of war and the Holocaust.

We have mentored 24 college students and two high school students, several of whom have gone on to professional jobs in media. We have provided curricular lesson plans and workshops to high school teachers to guide their students in producing human- interest journalism. It is heartening to learn that we are used as a learning tool in classrooms across the country, from Little Rock, Arkansas to New York City to Belton, Texas.