The last day of the voyage and the first sighting of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island—that last hurdle to America—brought new anxieties. Passengers of means escaped the rigors of the "Ellis Ordeal" by being processed aboard the vessel. These privileged few were then delivered directly to Manhattan. The poorer classes, however, experienced further frustration as they often sat three to four days in the crowded harbor, awaiting their ship's turn to disembark passengers. On days when several large ships, each carrying over a thousand passengers in steerage, docked concurrently, the capacity of the station was woefully inadequate.

Finally, with babes in arms and children in hand, laden with bundles and baggage containing all their worldly possessions, this diverse assemblage of Old World humanity would stream down the plank and onto Ellis Island.

The Ellis Island experience was traumatic for most newcomers as they were closely observed from the time they set foot on the island. Inspectors looked for signs of sickness or infirmity, a limp, the empty stare of the feeble–minded, or shortness of breath as immigrants climbed the stairs to the Registry Room. Arriving in the hall, the flow of traffic was channeled through metal pipe partitions so that the room assumed the look of a stockyard. Probably as a result of that negative image, the partitions were later exchanged for benches.

Sick, bewildered, and exhausted from the voyage, the immigrants huddled in the Great Hall of Ellis. On a daily basis, the vast registry area—frequently called the "Hall of Tears"—was filled to the walls with would-be Americans. With numbered identification tags pinned to their clothing, the immigrants awaited the battery of legal and medical examinations. Standing there today, one can almost hear the voices, in a jumble of languages, echoing from the high-vaulted ceiling.

Family members could be separated, with some accepted and others rejected. The painful decision of whether to stay or return with a loved one had to be made on the spot. For most immigrants, these hours would be the most emotional and traumatic of their lives. Some could not face the disgrace or ruin of deportation, and it is estimated that there were three thousand suicides.

A day spent on Ellis Island seemed like an eternity. What took place there was their first experience in America and overwhelmingly important. Would they be allowed into this land of opportunity or turned away at the door? From the beginning, immigrants understand that to enter the United States, two things were important above all others; they must create the impression that they could make a living in the newly adopted country, and they must prove to be disease-free.

In its time, Ellis Island was a state–of–the–art processing station, but the machine was not without faults. The examinations were conducted in an efficient, but callous manner.

The first doctors made quick examinations and noted any suspicions with a tell–tale chalk mark on the right shoulder of the immigrant's usually dark clothing. People thus marked were held back for further examination. A second group of doctors looked for contagious diseases. These were the most feared on the island. Trachoma, a potentially blinding and highly contagious disease, was the most common reason for detaining an immigrant in this phase of the examination. The medical inspectors at Ellis Island bore overwhelming responsibility in judging the health of as many as five thousand immigrants a day. Sometimes apprehensions were well-founded, but most immigrants got a clean bill of health.

Questions and Name Changes
Once past the medical examiner, immigrants proceeded to the registration clerks. "Your name?" a clerk would ask. Names were often a problem. Not all immigrants could spell their names, and baffled officials jotted down names as they sounded. Some name changes were quite deliberate. When Jan Menkalski emigrated from Poland in 1900, he knew that better job opportunities were available for German- speaking people with German–sounding names. Tracing him through Cleveland city directories and the 1910 census, we find that he called himself John Wagner. Without memories and family traditions, his records would almost certainly have been impossible to trace.

There were up to twenty–nine additional questions. "What is your nationality?" "Your destination?" "Who paid your fare?" "How much money do you have?" "Show it to me." "Have you ever been in prison or in the poorhouse?" this screening was designed to keep out the paupers, insane, sufferers of loathsome diseases, criminal, and contract laborers who might be entering as strike breakers. Over the course of the island's immigration history, laws were passed that also prohibited polygamists, anarchists, and prostitutes from entering the country.

Leaving Ellis Island
Most immigrants who passed all the rigorous examinations at Ellis went to the baggage room to claim their belongings. From there they proceeded to the money exchange where marks, drachmas, lira, zloty, and kroner were traded for American currency. The railroad agent was the last stop, and here they could purchase a ticket to the destination of their dreams. Those bound for location other than New York City traveled by barge to New Jersey rail stations. From there, they entered the mainstream of America.

However, many other immigrants were also detained for various reasons and varying amounts of time. Some waited for relatives to come and claim them, and others had to wait for travel funds before they could be released. Over the years, about 2 percent of the immigrants were turned back at Ellis Island, often called "Heartbreak Island."

It was customary for relatives and friends who came to meet immigrants to bring American–style clothes, and at this point many native costumes were left behind. Would old country traditions and lifestyles be shed as easily? Answers to that question are as varied as the experiences of those who became a part of the melting pot of America. They can be found in the homes, hearts, and lifestyles, of those born of this tremendous struggle.

Both Ellis Island: Tracing Your Family History Through America's Gateway and They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins are available in The Shops @ Ancestry.com.