Miami Stories
The Miami Stories initiative collects stories about Miami’s past, present, and future. Through this oral history project, HistoryMiami Museum documents life in the Magic City through written stories, video submissions, and audio recordings, which are preserved in the museum’s archive, and shared online and through local media outlets.

Your Story Matters
HistoryMiami Museum accepts written stories and video submissions on a rolling basis. We welcome written stories between 500-1,000 words and video stories under 5 minutes about life in Miami. We encourage storytellers to submit a photo with their written story. To submit a written story, complete the Miami Stories Submission Form. To submit a video story, click on the video story link.
How did you or your family get to Miami?
When do you feel like a Miamian?
What would you miss if you left Miami?
What makes Miami, Miami?
What do you see for Miami’s future?
Mariel Stories

In collaboration with the Cuban Heritage Collection at the University of Miami Libraries and as a part of the program El efecto Mariel: Before, During, and After, HistoryMiami Museum is collecting stories related to the Mariel boatlift of 1980. Members of the community are encouraged to share their personal memories, stories, and reflections related to Mariel. Stories will be collected virtually on a rolling basis and a series of prompts give participants ideas from where they can begin their story. Submitted stories will become part of the permanent collections of the HistoryMiami Museum and Cuban Heritage Collection and featured on both online platforms.
Miami Stories Recording Booth

The Miami Stories Recording Booth allows the museum to capture audio stories at local events.
For more information about booking the Miami Stories Recording Booth, see the Recording Booth Information Sheet or contact us at miamistories@historymiami.org.
Explore the Miami Stories Archives
VIDEO STORIES

Click here to watch these videos with closed captioning.
As part of the 2020 10 Days of Connection, HistoryMiami Museum invited South Florida residents to share a story about an item that reflects an aspect of their cultural identity and build a community exhibit. We continue to collect these stories and invite you to share yours. Either by yourself or accompanied by your loved ones, submit a video explaining how this object represents your cultural identity. Feel free to submit your story in the language of your choice.
AUDIO STORIES

Click here to access the Miami Stories Audio Archive
WRITTEN STORIES
My great-grandfather Andrew Christian Frost was born in Denmark and migrated to the United States in 1873, settling in Wisconsin by 1876. He was approached by James Ingraham, who worked for Henry Flagler in promoting the East Coast Railway, to come to Florida and become a land developer. He had… Read More
Coming to Miami Beach had been my dream since childhood. I was in my early 20s and had saved enough money to take my vacation there. So in the middle of October 1941, I took a bus from New Jersey. It took three days, and I was dirty and exhausted… Read More
Elena York Sanchez was born in Cuba in 1921, the youngest of seven siblings, to Augusto W. York, originally of Marietta, Ga., and Aurora Valmaña of Marianao, Cuba. Her father met his future spouse, a teacher, after arriving in Cuba with Teddy Roosevelt as one of the famous Rough… Read More
My journey to Miami Beach in 1939 actually began two years earlier. I was 10 and living in a New York City apartment house when a Western Union telegram arrived to change our lives. We had won the Irish Sweepstakes. Disrupted from our neighborhood, friends and schools, my two… Read More
In July of 1921, my father, mother and two older sisters and I moved to Miami from Brunswick, Ga. We lived in a tent in the area of Jackson Memorial Hospital. My first memory is living on Northeast 17th Street near the Old City Cemetery. Our neighbors were the… Read More