America 250 storytelling project kicks off

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – A national storytelling project kicked off on the National Mall Monday.  It’s all leading up to America’s 250th birthday next year.

Rosie Rios, chair of America 250, remembers celebrating America’s 200th birthday as a child when she says she realized she was the American dream.

“I remember thinking that if my mother could leave everything behind in Mexico and she could come to this great nation and raise me and my eight siblings on her own and send all nine of us off to college, anything was possible,” said Rios.

Rios kicked off the “Our American Story” campaign Monday to collect thousands of personal stories from across the country to form the largest-ever archive of American voices.

The America 250 team will roll out to every state and territory with help from Walmart.

“We’re going to the deep south, we’re going to tribal nations, we’re going to rural America, we are coming to you,” said Rios.

Rios says the schedule is being finalized.  She says some of the interviews will be archived at the Library of Congress and shared through media platforms.