250 stories. 250 years. One nation, still becoming.
To mark America's 250th anniversary, Story of US is collecting 250 personal stories from individuals across the country. Each one reflects a family's journey, an identity, and what belonging in America has meant. Together they form a living portrait of the nation at its milestone moment.
No nation begins as a certainty.
It begins as a bet.
Two hundred fifty years ago, a small group of people bet that ordinary citizens could govern themselves better than any king. It was not a safe bet. It is still not finished. But the bet held, and word of it traveled: that where you start does not have to determine where you end. That belonging could be built, not just inherited.
61 of 250 collected so far, from 18 states. The portrait is just beginning.
Every dot is a person.
Stories land on the map where their tellers live, city by city, state by state. Follow a dot far enough and it becomes a family, a kitchen, a language, a life.
Not one story told 250 times.
250 different stories that happen to share an address. A few of them, first.
“And because, wherever life has taken us, literature has always been a way of finding our way home.”
Zhao Shuxia and Zhao Shumin
“And above all, I wanted to find my way back to my mother.”
Yang Zhengming
“I say it because those years, brutal as they were, built something into me that never left.”
Yang Ling
“Looking back, those ordinary days are the story.”
Wang Shi
“The less attached I became to possessions, the freer I felt.”
Liang Dongping
Your story belongs here.
The form takes 10 to 15 minutes. There are no wrong answers, and our team follows up before anything goes live.