The Port of New York has for centuries been the most used portal to the United States for immigrants from around the world. While there were many other important entries into the country, it is estimated that more than 100 million Americans are directly related to immigrants who passed through Ellis Island during its tenure as a federal immigration station.
Prior to the opening of Ellis Island, immigrant processing was the responsibility of the state, and before 1855, there was no official center. In 1855, the State of New York began processing immigrants through the facilities at Castle Garden (previously known as Castle Clinton) in response to a massive influx of immigrants, many escaping famine in Ireland. This did not prove to be the best possible site, though, because as the new immigrants left the facilities, they were routinely exploited by con men, who sold them phony tickets to various destinations, took their money in exchange for non-existent jobs, or found other ways to part the unwary immigrant with his or her money.
Castle Garden processed its last immigrant in April 1890, and after reviewing several possible sites, the United States government selected Ellis Island for the establishment of a new federal immigration center for New York. On the island, it would be easier to screen and protect the new immigrants before they proceeded out onto the streets of New York.
After the closing of Castle Garden, immigrants were processed at an old barge office in Manhattan until the opening of the Ellis Island Immigration Center on 1 January 1892. Thousands of immigrants passed through the doors of Ellis Island during its peak years of 1892 to around 1924, and the National Park Services' Ellis Island site says that in a single day in 1907, 11,747 immigrants came through.
In 1897, a fire destroyed the original buildings on Ellis Island, and once again, the barge office was reopened as a temporary processing center. In 1900, the Ellis Island Immigration Center reopened in the building that still exists today.
The Process
As the immigrants arrived in the Ellis Island Great Hall, exhausted and overwhelmed from their long journey, they were herded through inspections. They knew that in order to gain entry to the United States, they needed to be disease-free and prove the ability to earn their way in their new home.
Inspectors examined them, looking for any sign of illness, and those with suspicious symptoms were marked and detained for further inspection. They were also asked a myriad of questions as to their origins, their past, how much money they had, where they were going, and their intentions in America.
Many were detained for various reasons, and some had to have relatives come to claim them. About two percent were turned back. In these heartbreaking cases, families were often forced to decide on the spot whether to split up or go back with those that were denied access.
Once they passed the inspections, immigrants collected their baggage and exchanged their money for U.S. currency. There was also a railroad agent available from whom they could purchase tickets for the next leg of their journey.
It is important to note that no records are known to have been kept of the immigrant processing at either Castle Garden or Ellis Island. Passenger lists are typically the only actual records available of immigrant trips to America.
The Beginning of the End
The National Origins Act in 1924 served to drastically reduce the immigration flow to this country, and subsequently through Ellis Island. It set up discriminatory quotas, and foreigners wishing to relocate permanently to the United States were required to go to U.S. consulates to apply for immigrant visas before they came over. Temporary non-immigrant visas were also available for those who only wished to travel to the country for a short time. Visas had to be presented on arrival, and immigrant visas were forwarded to the INS headquarters in Washington, DC.
This and subsequent restrictions added by a revision to the National Origins Act in 1929, which further reduced the maximum number of admissions to the country, reduced the flow of immigrants to a trickle.
In later years, parts of the island were used as a Coast Guard station and as a detention center for enemy aliens in WWII. The Ellis Island Immigration Center closed in 1954 after millions of immigrants had entered America through its doors.
Looking to the Future
In 1982, the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. was founded to raise funds to restore and preserve Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, which welcomed the millions of immigrants to America. In partnership with the National Park Service, the Foundation has "restored the Statue and funded and produced Liberty Weekend in 1986; restored the Main Building at Ellis Island (the largest historic restoration in this country's history) and created the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, which opened in September 1990; restored additional buildings on Ellis Island's north side; and established a $20 million endowment to sustain both monuments throughout the years. The Foundation's current projects are the reopening of registration for The American Immigrant Wall of Honor and the creation of The American Family Immigration History Center, both at Ellis Island."1
The American Family Immigration History Center is scheduled to open in the spring of 2001. The facility will house a state-of-the-art technology center with access to a database containing the records 17 million immigrants taken from passenger manifests on microfilm at the National Archives and Records Administration.
The works of the Foundation are funded entirely by the American people. To learn more about it, see the contact information below:
The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
Department W
52 Vanderbilt Avenue
New York, NY 10017-3898
Phone: 212-883-1986
Fax: 212-883-1069
http://www.ellisisland.org/
Much of the information above—and more—is explained in greater detail in the newly released Ancestry publication Ellis Island: Tracing Your Family History Through America's Gateway, by Loretto Dennis Szucs. This book is available for only $4.95 by calling 1-800-ANCESTRY.
Links to More Information
Footnote
1. From the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. Web site.
Juliana Smith is the editor of the Ancestry Daily News and author of The Ancestry Family Historian's Address Book. She has written for Ancestry Magazine and Genealogical Computing. Juliana can be reached by e-mail at: editor@ancestry-inc.com, but regrets that she is unable to assist with personal research.
The Family History Compass
