“Immigrants: The Pride of America” in New York Times Celebrates “Americans By Choice”

Forty-five women and men from around the world have been celebrated as “Americans by Choice” in a full-page public service announcement in the Fourth of July edition of the New York Times .

Each year on Independence Day, Carnegie Corporation of New York, in partnership with the New York Times, salutes our founder Andrew Carnegie’s legacy, by celebrating an ideal he held so dearly: citizenship.

The Americans celebrated in today’s public service announcement emigrated to the United States from six continents and range in occupation from opera singer and NASA astronaut to circuit court judge and university president.  And they also include a celebrity chef, MVP baseball player, artist and comedian.  A full list of this year’s honorees is below.

“Immigrants: The Pride of America” in today’s New York Times celebrates women and men who have become Americans by choice. The public service announcement declares:

The United States of America remains a land of immigrants. Andrew Carnegie, who founded Carnegie Corporation of New York in 1911, was an immigrant from Scotland. We at Carnegie Corporation salute his legacy, along with the contributions of the millions of other immigrants who have made, and continue to make, our nation strong and vibrant. We are committed to helping immigrants become integrated into the civic fabric of our nation because enlightened citizenship is the everlasting strength of our democracy. Our national motto, — “out of many, one” — continues to be an ideal we can all aspire to and a true guiding light for our nation.

Carnegie Corporation of New York has published these Independence Day announcements in since 2006.

Carnegie Corporation’s president, Vartan Gregorian, an Armenian immigrant from Iran, reminds us of that our country is an extraordinary and daring idea that is still being tested and must be nurtured: “Here, in America,” he said, “we are trying to form a nation that transcends its limits and where the people transcend their differences in order to share a common purpose and common ideals.  And here, in America, we must all understand that participating in our civic life, the rich and vibrant life of our nation, is not just a right but also an obligation.  And perhaps most important of all, it means being a citizen.” 

About Carnegie Corporation of New York

Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic foundation created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to do "real and permanent good in this world."