Ellis Island

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Ellis Island

• From Europe to The Golden Door

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Americas Premier Immigration Station

• 1890 Federal Government establishes Bureau of
  Immigration selects Ellis Island as site of new
  immigration station for port of New York
• 1892 Ellis Island opens it doors January 1
• 1897 Fire destroys original wood buildings
• 1900 Ellis Island re-opens in its present
  Beaux-Art style

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100 Million Americans Can Trace Ancestry to Ellis
Island

• 12 Million pass through from 1892 1954
• Peak years from 1892 1924
• 11,747 processed on one day 1907
• Quotas begin to restrict immigrants 1924
• Used as detention center for enemy aliens 1943
• Closes doors 1954

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Saving Ellis Island

• 1965 Taken over by National Park Service
• 1974 Restore Ellis Island committee formed
• 1983 Restoration begins
• 1990 Ellis Island Immigration Museum opens
  September 10
• 1992- Ellis Island Centennial

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First Wave of Immigration

• 1830s / 1850s Northwestern Europeans flee
  starvation, feudal governments social upheaval
  from the Industrial Revolution. They came here
  from
• Ireland
• Germany
• Scandinavia
• As well as China

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Second Wave of Immigration

• A Flood-Tide from Eastern Southern Europe
• Fleeing burdens of high taxes, poverty
  overpopulation, oppression religious persecution

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Second Wave of Immigration

• A Monumental Decision
• Leaving Family Friends
• Maybe to Never See Them Again
• Begin a New Life in America

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The Ships Manifest

• Before Boarding Ship, Each Passenger was
  Subjected to De-Lousing Questioning
• A Series of 29 Questions were Asked
• Answers were Written on the Ships Manifest
• In English
• Documenting Information for Genealogists Today

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The Ships Manifest
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Leaving Europe for America

• 12.00 Ticket
• 10-14 Day Journey
• 3rd Class Steerage
• Crude Conditions

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Onboard Ship
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End of the Journey

• Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor. Your Huddled
  Masses Yearning to Breathe Free, The Wretched
  Refuse of Your Teeming Shore

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Arrival At Ellis Island

• Transferred from Ship to the Island via Ferry
• Sometimes Waiting for Hours to be Moved
• And Reach the Golden Door to America

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Welcome to America!
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The Waiting Room
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The Great Hall
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The Waiting Is Over

• Now began a series of tests that would determine
  your fate
• Only 2 were sent back
• 2 of 12 Million

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The Inspection Line
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The Medical Exam

• Medical Inspectors watched the people marked
  them with chalk
• The exam was frightening embarrassing
• Many varied ailments could send you home

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Chalk Marks Used at Ellis Island

• X Suspected Mental Defect
• Circled X- Definite Signs of Mental Defects
• B Black
• C- Conjunctivitis
• CT Trachoma
• E- Eyes
• F- Face
• Ft- Feet

• G- Goiter
• H- Heart
• K- Hernia
• N- Neck
• L- Lameness
• P- Physical Lungs
• PG- Pregnancy
• SC- Scalp
• S- Senility
• SI- Special Inquiry

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The Eye Exam

• Eyes were special treatment
• Each person had their eyes examined, usually with
  a hook to flip them up.
• They were looking for Trachoma

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Trachoma Fauves

• Trachoma Fauves were the 2 main diseases that
  would send you home
• Fauves is a skin fungus
• Trachoma is a version of Pink Eye

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The Questions

• Asked a Series of 29 Questions
• The Same as Were Asked Before Leaving Europe
• To See if Your Story Remained the Same

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The Mental Exam

• Immigrants who Looked Out of the Ordinary Were
  Given Mental Exams
• If You Failed the Exams (3 Chances), You Were
  Deported

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Making it

• Once All the Testing Was Done, You Were Allowed
  to Leave the Island Become an American
• Or Become a Bird of Passage

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The Streets Are Paved with Gold

• I came here believing the streets were paved with
  gold.
• I found out the streets werent paved at all,
• And I was expected to pave them!

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Nativist Resistance
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Too Many Undesirables

• The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 effectively
  ends Chinese immigration
• A growing Nativist movement grips the nation
• WWI the Russian Revolution promotes Xenophobia

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Limiting Immigration

• Quota system instituted in 1922
• Limits immigrants to a percentage of ethnic group
  already in the U.S.
• Favors desirable immigrants over others

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America, The Melting Pot

• Our Unique Blend of Ethnicity has Resulted in a
  New Distinct Culture Amongst the Nations of the
  World
• Are We Really a Melting Pot?

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Ethnic Diversity Builds a Nation
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Every Culture Contributed
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To Make Us What We Are Today
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Tracing Your Family History

• www.ellisisland.org
• Search Passenger records
• Add a Relatives Name to the Wall of Honor

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The End
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