By: Alicia Infante
This subject piqued my interest many years ago when I had visited there. I was fortunate enough to hear the stories of people from other countries that came to the island and what they experienced. I have read of their accounts on the island. You can now access the records online. I think about what the people who came here had to endure. They left most things behind that they owned. They also left family behind. There was both sadness and joy for all who came.
History of Ellis Island
Ellis Island was many things before becoming an immigration station. If you watch the video the wooden structure that was built in 1892 was built to house the housing station at the immigration station burnt down and was rebuilt to what we have today. The island had two names prior to becoming People came to America to escape from being persecuted because of religion, and another reason was poverty. This occurred in 1892 through 1924. Immigrants, when they left home, could only bring what they were able to carry. The different ways that people traveled were on a boat, or by foot,—most of the 3,000 people crowded the ships traveled many distances for a means of freedom. It took roughly two weeks to cross the Atlantic. There were a variety of cultures with the people who traveled. The ships that brought people over were filthy. The first thing that immigrants saw was the Statue of Liberty. Before leaving the boat, people looked over for health issues. Upper-class immigrants were first, then came lower class which waited long hours and days later. As people came off the boat, they approached the doctor’s registry, where they would look for signs of illness. People were forced to take an eye test to determine if they had trachoma. If trachoma was found on an individual, they were sent back home free of charge for transportation. Out of the 300,000 sent to the island, roughly 120,000 people were sent back with disease or disability. Many births and deaths were occurring on Ellis Island. Interpreters were on the island to assist in getting the correct names of individuals. You had to exchange money from your home country for American cash to survive.
In the audio clips, you hear about 3-4 ships carrying 5,000 to 6,000 people. Everyone was tagged with their demographics at Ellis Island after they took your papers. Years passed, and Ellis Island was not used for immigrants but a detention center for enemies in 1918 and 1919. The doors were officially shut on November 12, 1954. They were survivors with very little to work with when coming to America. I’m proud of their accomplishments that made way for us to accomplish our goals.
teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/stop1.htm
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