Final Project: Ellis Island

CUNY Honors College Seminar 2 The Peopling of New York
Sharmaine Habib
Professor Kevin Foster
Final Project

Ellis Island: A Hub of American Immigration

America has undoubtedly been influenced by its immigrant populations. These groups of people came from throughout the world to settle, develop and change America into their homes. Their influences are felt when we look at the general ethnic composition of the United States, when we observed some distinct cultural dress/behavior/food etc. that has been assimilated into the mainstream culture and most of all when we take into consideration the history of the nation. The history of America is filled with episodes of Irish, German, Chinese, South Asian, Caribbean, English, Swedish etc. (populations from all around the globe) that have transplanted themselves to the United States and carved out a particular niche and added to the great melting pot that is American culture. Immigration has fundamental social, cultural, economic, educational, and religious aspects that change both the people that are migrating and the country that they are migrating to. One of the most influential aspects of immigration is the process through which immigrants reach their destinations. The way they are received into the nation and how they treated are all key to the immigration experience: this makes places like Ellis Island, the reception point of multitudes of individuals, extremely important in understanding immigration and the impact of the experience on immigrants.
Ellis Island is important to the history of American immigration because it was essentially the first view of America that many immigrants had. It was its welcoming hand or sometimes its stinging slap that most immigrants felt. It was the point in their entire gamble that could bring them great joy or great sorrow. Ellis Island was the determination point of a new life and perspective fortune or a return to their native land and whatever misfortune that awaited them. The hardships of their lives and the experience of Ellis Island all helped to shape the lives and identity of many immigrants and in doing so altered the nation to welcome its new citizens.

A Brief History of Ellis Island

Ellis Island has gone through many changes throughout the years, from personally owned island to immigration station and eventually to museum. The island was first owned by Samuel Ellis who established a tavern on Ellis Island to cater to the needs of local fishermen. Around 1808, the island was sold to the State of New York by the Ellis family. At this time America was experiencing the first great wave of immigration. Nearly five million people arrived from Northern and Western Europe during this phenomenon. New York State needed a place in which regulation and evaluation of immigrants could take place, Ellis Island was overlooked and in 1855 Castle Garden in New York City became one of the first immigration stations. In 1890 as more and more immigrants came into the country the control of immigration was turned over to the Federal Government. The government appropriated $75,000 for the construction of the first Federal Immigration Station on Ellis Island. Ellis Island officially opened its immigration station on January 1, 1892. Annie Moore, a 15-year-old girl from County Cork, Ireland was the first person admitted to the new immigration station. The station would see about 700 immigrants pass through Ellis Island on a daily basis for the first year. On June 15, 1897 a fire broke out on the island and the station was damaged causing the immigration station to be relocated to the Barge Office in Battery Park Manhattan. The conditions at the Battery station were far from ideal with immigrants being treated more like animals than prospective citizens. And so the stations on Ellis Island were reconstructed by a New York architectural firm, Boring and Tilton, to be a fire- proof facility that better catered to immigrants: it was officially opened in December 1900. On April 17, 1907, an all time daily high of 11,747 immigrants received was reached. Ellis Island experienced its highest number of immigrants received in a single year, with 1,004,756 arrivals. As World War I began in 1914 immigration to the U.S. halted and Ellis Island experienced a sharp decline in receiving immigrants - from 178,416 in 1915 to 28,867 in 1918. Starting in 1917, immigration concerns became secondary as Ellis Island began operating as a hospital for the Army, a way station for Navy personnel and a detention center for enemy aliens. The U.S. Army took over most of Ellis during the years of the war and created a makeshift way station to treat sick and wounded American servicemen. In the 1920s as a result of immigration quotas, and restriction of immigration America experienced the end of mass immigration and so Ellis Island fell into neglect and abandonment. Although their was a brief increase of immigration activity on Ellis Island in the 1950s, the island was formally placed under the jurisdiction of the General Services Administration from 1954 to 1964, and all thirty-three structures on the island were officially closed in November, 1954. Ellis Island was opened to the public in 1976 and during that year over 50,000 people visited. The costly restoration of Ellis Island ($156 million dollar) began in 1984 and was completed in 1990. Since then millions of visitors have retraced the steps of their ancestors in the Main Arrivals building. Many come to Ellis Island in the hopes of experiencing Ellis Island like their ancestors or just to get a better look into Americas past.

The Journey of Immigrants

Immigration to Ellis Island was greatest from the years of 1893 to about 1920 when restrictive immigration laws were passed that significantly lowered the number of immigrants entering the U.S. At this time America virtually closed its doors to immigrants and Ellis Island became a reflection of the countrys rich immigration history. Numerous immigrants passed through Ellis Island during the years of high immigration influx. These years represented Americas generous attitude towards open immigration. The immigrants that passed through Ellis Island virtually uprooted their lives and that of their family in their native land for a chance to enter America. Immigrants were required to pass a series of medical and legal inspections before they could enter America and the actual experience of going through inspection or detainment on Ellis Island was often difficult and burdensome. Those who did not pass these inspections were returned to their country of origin, with their hopes evaporated (only 2 percent of immigrants coming into America were turned away at Ellis Island but that means over 250,000 peoples dreams were lost).
Before the Ellis Island inspection, immigrants had to face the actually journey to America. This journey was dangerous and displeasing for many of the immigrants. The thousands of people arriving daily in New York Harbor from mostly Eastern and Southern Europe faced tremendous odds on the ships that bore them there. For all of the immigrants the trip meant days and sometimes months aboard overcrowded vessels often traveling through hazardous weather. Storms and violent winds made the trip daunting and some health problems often resulted. The living quarters of the ships were divided into long narrow compartments that were used as separate dormitories for single men, single women, and families. They were often jammed with metal-framed berths three bunks high, the air and atmosphere of steerage was rank with the heavy odor of spoiled food, seasickness, and unwashed bodies. There was little privacy, and the lack of adequate toilet facilities made it difficult to keep clean increasing the chances of spreading disease. Cases of malnutrition were not uncommon. The standard meals for immigrants had consisted of potatoes, soup, eggs, fish, stringy meat, prunes and whatever foods they carried from home. The substandard food and sanitation conditions only intensified the misery for any who had become sick aboard these ships. But the promise of freedom and opportunity made even the most arduous trips worth it and preserved the hopes of many immigrants.
The immigrants that sailed to America carried the dreams of carving out new futures for themselves. Most were fleeing difficulties of their homeland ranging from religious persecution to political oppression and economic hardships. For example many German immigrants (farmers, bakers, carpenters, brewers) left with their families for America because of the social /economic instability and armed conflict that plagued Germany during the nineteenth century. The devastating aftermath of the great famine drove millions of Irish peasants into the United States and many Italians came in search of better paying jobs. Some immigrants came from Asian countries such as Korea, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, and Vietnam to escape political and religious persecution and to achieve economic success. Despite the cause (civil wars, political upheavals, and economic hardship) immigrants made the difficult journey to American shores in the hopes of achieving a better life.

Landing on Ellis Island

As the ship carrying the immigrants neared Ellis Island the First and Second Class passengers were already inspected and cleared to land by immigration officials. However, steerage passengers did not have such privileges and their first steps on the mainland were brief. When they disembarked on the Hudson River piers, they were directed onto ferries which carried them to Ellis Island to undergo inspection. For many immigrants this was the most difficult part of the journey, it was at this point that they would be welcomed into America or denied entry.
On Ellis Island the immigrants were subjected to numerous tests and examinations to determine if they could enter the country. The medical inspection started as soon as the immigrants entered the buildings, as they climbed the stairs to the Registry Room. U.S. Public Health Service Doctors watched from the top of the stairs for shortness of breath or signs of heart trouble as the immigrants proceeded up the steps carrying their baggage. The doctors had a limited amount of time (sometimes only five-six seconds) to look over each immigrant during the line inspection. If a doctor saw any behavior or indication of disease, he marked the clothing of the immigrant with chalk: i.e. "L" for lameness, "E" for eyes. Doctors checked for sixty symptoms, from anemia to varicose veins, which might indicate a wide variety of diseases, disabilities, and physical conditions. Of primary concern were cholera, favus (scalp and nail fungus), insanity, and mental impairments. The marked immigrants were removed from the inspection line and led to special examination rooms where a doctor would check them for the illness indicated by the chalk mark and give them a quick overall physical. Many immigrants had to be sent to the hospital for observation and care because of their overall health. One of the most infamous aliments was Trachoma, a highly contagious eye infection that could cause blindness. It was a common disease in southeastern Europe that appeared as inflammations on the inner eyelid. The doctors checked for the disease by raising the eyelid using their fingers, a hairpin, or a buttonhook. Since trachoma is difficult to cure, people with this disease were isolated and sent back to their native lands. For patients who recovered from illness America would still welcome them as citizens. For others whose ailments were incurable or disabling entrance into America was denied.
Another series of examinations involved mental testing. During this primary examination, doctors first asked the immigrants to answer a few questions about themselves, and then to solve simple arithmetic problems, or count backward from 20 to 1, or complete a puzzle. This would enable medical examiners to ascertain the mental fitness of the immigrants. . Puzzle and mimicry tests were often used because they were basically self-explanatory and did not have to be explained to an immigrant through an interpreter. Also immigrants did not have to know how to read or write in order to solve them. Of the immigrants held for this examination very few were detained for secondary testing.
After the medical inspection, each immigrant had to undergo a legal examination, an experience that was often determined entrance into the country. The legal inspectors asked a series of questions, such as: Are you married or single? What is your occupation? How much money do you have? Have you ever been convicted of a crime? - to determine the immigrants social, economic, and moral fitness. This series of questioning was used as a determination of the immigrants ability to support themselves in America. Those who appeared unable to support themselves and were more likely to become a burden on society were denied entry. It was over relatively quickly after which an immigrant was either permitted to enter the United States or detained for a legal hearing.
After going through this process of being inspected immigrants received permission to leave the island. When they final reached the mainland immigrants could now try to make a life for themselves.

The Legacy of Ellis Island

Ellis Island is a vital part of Americas heritage. It provided a means for immigrants of the long past to enter the country and contribute to the fabric of the American culture. The island and the museum now located on it serve to educate and open the eyes of visitors to the complexity of immigration to the U.S. It captures the diverse and often-contradictory emotions immigrants felt when they arrived on America's shores. Ellis Island preserves the frustration, joy, and perseverance of immigrants that passed through its gateway. Ellis Island symbolized America's policy to take in the poor, weak and ravaged individuals in the hopes of providing a better life, but also shows its willingness to reject the unwanted and the unsavory from the society. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-toss to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" proclaims the State of Liberty but it was really Ellis Island that help to establish and fulfill this precedent. As immigrants continue to journey into the United States, Ellis Island keeps alive the promises of the pass and continues to shine as a hope for the future of immigration.