Above: “Easy Grape” (2019), ink, gouache, collage, charcoal, and matte gel on recycled produce box, 27 x 30 inches. Photo by Michael Underwood. All images © Narsiso Martinez, courtesy of Buffalo AKG Museum. Learn more about this image and the artist at Colossal.com.

Background

This project was originally developed by students in the course “Once We Arrived: Stories of Immigrants’ First Jobs,” taught by Prof. Julia Chadaga at Macalester College in St. Paul, MN in Spring 2024.

Throughout the course, students learned about the challenges faced by immigrants navigating the world of work, and about how people use storytelling to instill their lives with meaning. Students applied their learning in the classroom to their work in the community as they made personal connections with immigrants from different parts of the world who are building new lives in the United States.

This course was funded by a grant from Project Pericles and developed in partnership with the International Institute of Minnesota.

Our Mission

Our project aims to elevate the voices of immigrants in our community and empower them to tell their stories. We seek to preserve our interviewees’ narratives in order to foster understanding of and compassion for the members of the diverse communities in the Twin Cities and beyond.

Our Process

Students, working in groups of three, connected with members of various immigrant communities in the Twin Cities. Beginning with informal meetings with their interviewees, and subsequently meeting for more formal conversations, the interviewees shared information about themselves, their journey to the United States, their work experiences, and their perspectives on what the American Dream means to them. These interviews were recorded; students edited the interview footage and selected excerpts that highlighted the interviewee’s story. These clips along with other materials, including additional interviews, are uploaded and available through this website.

Acknowledgments

The Community Engagement Center at Macalester College and the International Institute of Minnesota provided invaluable support. A grant from Project Pericles made our course activities possible.

We are extraordinarily grateful to the following individuals for their help with this project: Morgan Adamson, Karin Aguilar-San Juan, Myrl Beam, Julie Dolan, Maria Fedorova, Christina Hughes, Ruth Janisch, Scotland Kraker, Joe Linstroth, Cedric McClure, and Tamara von Schmidt-Pauli.

Extra special thanks to Cait Bergeon, Vivek Chadaga, Aisling Quigley, Peter Rachleff at the East Side Freedom Library, Annalise Record, Razik Saifullah, Brooke Schmolke, Lynn Thompson at the International Institute of Minnesota, Ben Voigt, Kao Kalia Yang, and our interviewees: Zainab Ahmadi, Pamela Bidear, Rogelio Carrillo, Rubi Carrillo, Adisack Nhouyvanisvong, Ian Palanga, Adela Rivera, Paulina Rivera, and Irina Safonova.