I Am An Immigrant T-Shirt
notes: label: Description
content: Chef José Andrés often wore this shirt to signal pride in his immigration story. The black short sleeve t-shirt, emblazoned with the words “I Am An Immigrant” in red and white lettering, supplied an eye-catching pronouncement of Andrés’s identity. While delivering a speech at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival in Miami, Florida on February 25, 2017, Andrés unbuttoned his chef’s coat to reveal the shirt underneath, discarding the outerwear as he declared, “I am an immigrant and a proud American immigrant.” Chef Andrés donated the clothing item along with several other artifacts to the Smithsonian after he was awarded the Julia Child Award in 2019.
label: Description
content: Born in northern Spain, Andrés and his parents moved to Barcelona when he was five years old. He began his culinary career under the tutelage of Ferran Adria at the restaurant Bulli. After arriving in the United States in 1990 at age 21, José Andrés established and expanded several restaurants in and around the Washington, D.C. area, including the popular tapas restaurant Jaleo. He founded the nonprofit World Central Kitchen (WCK) in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, where the organization prepared and distributed food to Haitians in need. In addition to its work feeding islanders in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria in 2017, WCK has supplied food for first responders and families after wildfires in California, in South Carolina after Hurricane Florence in 2018, and to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and India (2020-2021).
label: Description
content: Chef Andrés is a vocal advocate for immigration reform, having become a naturalized citizen in 2013 after two decades in the United States. He frequently speaks about his experiences as an immigrant, expressing his gratitude for the opportunities he has received in his adopted country. As a restaurant owner, Andrés calls attention to the importance of immigrants in every stage of America’s food system, from harvesting produce to processing meat to preparing meals at eateries across the country.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Food Technology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2019.0224.02
label: catalog number
content: 2019.0224.02
label: accession number
content: 2019.0224
objectType: label: Object Name
content: t-shirt
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall (flat): 32 in x 25 in; 81.28 cm x 63.5 cm