The story of the United States is the story of immigrants traveling across an ocean to start a new and better life in a strange far away land. In its over two hundred year history, this story has been repeated time and time again by millions of individuals from every racial, ethnic, and religious background.

With such great diversity, is there anything in common between the various stories all of the immigrants arriving in the United States? What narratives have been created to describe the blending of different cultures that make up the United States?

In the early twentieth century, a period that saw millions of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe arrive in the United States, the term "melting pot" was coined to describe the process of cultural assimilation of the different and diverse immigrant groups arriving in the United States.

As the concept of the "melting pot" implies, different immigrant groups, arriving in the United States, were able to set aside cultural values and practices that made them unique and all adopt one common set of cultural values and practices.

Does the concept of the United States being a "melting pot" accurately describe the experiences of millions of immigrants who arrived on America's shores? What do sources written by immigrants reveal about the story of immigration to the United States? Does examining the story of story of one immigrant group, the Carpatho-Rusyns confirm or challenge the historical narrative of the United States being the great "melting pot" nation?