Ellis IslandFrom Europe

to “The Golden Door”

America’s 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

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

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

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

Second Wave of Immigration

A “Flood-Tide” from Eastern & Southern Europe

Fleeing burdens of high taxes, poverty & overpopulation, oppression & religious persecution

Second Wave of Immigration

A Monumental Decision

Leaving Family & Friends

Maybe to Never See Them Again

& Begin a New Life in America

The Ship’s Manifest

Before Boarding Ship, Each Passenger was Subjected to De-Lousing & Questioning

A Series of 29 Questions were Asked Answers were Written on the Ship’s

Manifest In English Documenting Information for

Genealogists Today

The Ship’s Manifest

Leaving Europe for America

$12.00 Ticket

10-14 Day Journey

3rd Class Steerage

Crude Conditions

Onboard Ship

End of the Journey “Give Me Your

Tired, Your Poor. Your Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free, The Wretched Refuse of Your Teeming Shore… “

We'll take your trash!!

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

Welcome to America!

The Waiting Room

The Great Hall

The Waiting Is Over Now began a series of tests that

would determine your fate Only 2 % were sent back 2% of 12 Million Would you like to have 2% of $12

Million Dollars?

The Inspection Line

The Medical Exam Medical Inspectors

watched the people & marked them with chalk

The exam was frightening & embarrassing

Many varied ailments could send you home

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

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

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”

The Questions Asked a Series of

29 Questions The Same as Were

Asked Before Leaving Europe

To See if Your Story Remained the Same

The Mental Exam Immigrants who

Looked “Out of the Ordinary” Were Given Mental Exams

If You Failed the Exams (3 Chances), You Were Deported

Or Sent to DC to Become a Congressman

Making it Once All the

Testing Was Done, You Were Allowed to Leave the Island & Become an American

Or Become a “Bird of Passage”

The Streets Are Paved with Gold

I came here believing the streets were paved with gold.

I found out the streets weren’t paved at all,

And I was expected to pave them!

Nativist Resistance

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

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

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?

Or More Like A Tossed Salad?

Ethnic Diversity Builds a Nation

Every Culture Contributed

To Make Us What We Are Today

Tracing Your Family History

www.ellisisland.org Search Passenger

records Add a Relative’s

Name to the “Wall of Honor”

The End