Berkshire Immigrant Stories

We are our stories.

We are resilience.

We are hope.

We are dreamers.

– Yuyi Morales

Learn more about the Finding Home Exhibition.

Berkshire Immigrant Stories was a collaborative effort to record and share Berkshire County residents’ stories of their journeys to the United States and our region. Some of these stories are personal, while others recount familial immigration journeys. These rich local stories were incorporated into Norman Rockwell Museum’s 2019-20 exhibition, Finding Home: Four Artists’ Journeys, which explores similar themes.

Norman Rockwell Museum is so thankful for the first-, second-, and third-generation stories we were honored to receive. Please click on the videos below to hear Berkshire County residents describing their journeys and reflecting on themes of home, hope, and belonging.

The Berkshire Resident Stories and Storybooth project were generously supported by the Elephant Rock Foundation.

A special note about the photograph: This photograph features Berkshire County residents who generously shared their immigration journeys. The individuals are arranged in a manner to evoke Norman Rockwell’s iconic 1961 painting, The Golden Rule. This painting distilled the principle that Rockwell believed was at the core of the world’s religions: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” His montage portrait brings together people of many backgrounds, cultures, and races to offer a powerful vision of acceptance, tolerance, and peace. Rockwell pursued and refined versions of this painting for eight years. “I never stopped thinking that it was worthwhile,” he said.

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