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Community Connections

"Celebrate America" Creative Writing Contest

The American Immigration Council is proud to sponsor the 13th annual Celebrate America Creative Writing Contest. The contest inspires educators to bring U.S. Immigration history and lessons into their classrooms and gives fifth graders the opportunity to explore America as a nation of immigrants.

Creative Writing Contest Coordinators Resources

Thank you for being a Coordinator in this year's American Immigration Council "Celebrate America Creative Writing Contest." Below you will find a number of resources to assist you.

 

 

For more information, please contact teacher@communityeducationcenter.org.

Creative Writing Contest Past Winners

Each year, the National Winner of the "Celebrate America" Creative Writing Contest and three guests receive an all expenses paid trip to The Council’s Annual Benefit Dinner where he/she is honored and reads his/her winning entry aloud. The winner also receives a travel stipend, engraved plaque, his/her winning entry printed in the Congressional Record and a flag flown over the Capitol in his/her honor.

Exhibit Hall

Becoming Americans: A Historical Perspective

Exhibit by Phillip Ratner  


When Eleanor Sreb, of the Smithsonian Folklife Center, and Ross Holland, National Park Service Associate Director for Cultural Resources Management, approached artist Phillip Ratner to create artwork for Ellis Island, Ratner initially thought, "How do I fit the entire world into a single piece?" Ratner sat for hours on a bench in the Great Hall at Ellis Island sketching, thinking, observing--trying to capture the essence of the immigration experience. Ratner conjured up images of the millions of immigrants who passed through that Great Hall--travel weary people of all ages, creeds and nationalities who hungered for a new life in America. "I picked up the ghosts," Ratner said, "and it changed my life. I felt my grandparents' energy and that of the thousands of immigrants who passed through those halls."

Past Exhibits


If you would like more information about our past exhibits please contact teacher@immcouncil.org