(bright music) Detroit's iconic train station at Michigan Central, full of history, American history.

It's been called the Ellis Island of the Midwest.

- My family came to Detroit via my grandmother.

- [Zosette] Everybody comes from somewhere - And she came from Natchez, Mississippi.

She came on train.

- [Zosette] People gathered at the train station to share their migration stories.

- My grandparents were born in Fort time in Germany, and my dad was actually born there as well.

And they immigrated to Detroit in 1954.

So I'm first generation American on my dad's side.

- I came as a refugee from Burundi.

I've been here since November, 2015.

- [Zosette] Detroit PBS presents Destination Detroit Stories from people who came here and built the Motor City.

- Detroit, we always think about its population loss, and it's lost more population than any other city.

It grew faster than any other city in the country.

- It becomes this major city that's growing so fast because of the automotive industry in the African American population in Detroit skyrockets.

- [Announcer 3] New travel luxury in every Ford car.

- Detroit was vast and wide.

Both of my grandfathers felt that it was imperative to get somewhere that was hust and busting.

- [Zosette] The legacy of the American auto worker carries on to this day.

- I come from labor, labor is in my blood.

It comes from the history of my family.

- My grandfather and my mom's family they come over here in 1974, at the time when the Lebanese civil war was about to start, but also for the opportunity at pursuing the American Dream.

- [Zosette] America at 250, our country's anniversary.

A time to look to the future and reflect on our past.

- My mother's family is from Zacatecas, Mexico.

- You know, this neighborhood has been revitalized many times over by new families coming in.

They don't know any of this.

- We have to tell our own story.

- After the war, about a hundred thousand Holocaust survivors come to the United States, and about 4,000 of them settle here in Michigan.

- We bought the ship, Queen Elizabeth, and took us about five days to get to New York.

Finally got to Detroit.

I felt better, much better there.

- So my father, he was a South Vietnamese military personnel.

He came to Michigan in 1975.

- We are nomadic beings.

We've always been moving, and so we're moving in search of opportunity.

We're moving in search of liberation and freedom.

We're moving in search of a pursuit of excellence.

- [Zosette] Watch "Destination Detroit" and hear our stories as we commemorate our country's 250th anniversary.

It's right here on Detroit PBS, premiering Monday, June 22nd at 9:00 PM, or stream at any time after that on the PBS app.

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