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ELLIS ISLAND - HISTORY
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From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United
States through the portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York
Harbor. Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just off the New Jersey
coast, within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. Through the years,
this gateway to the new world was enlarged from its original 3.3 acres
to 27.5 acres mostly by landfill obtained from ship ballast and possibly
excess earth from the construction of the New York City subway system.
Before being designated as the site of the first Federal immigration
station by President Benjamin Harrison in 1890, Ellis Island had a
varied history. The local Indian tribes had called it "Kioshk" or Gull
Island. Due to its rich and abundant oyster beds and plentiful and
profitable shad runs, it was known as Oyster Island for many generations
during the Dutch and English colonial periods. By the time Samuel Ellis
became the island's private owner in the 1770's, the island had been
called Kioshk, Oyster, Dyre, Bucking and Anderson's Island. In this way,
Ellis Island developed from a sandy island that barely rose above the
high tide mark, into a hanging site for pirates, a harbor fort,
ammunition and ordinance depot named Fort Gibson, and finally into an
immigration station.
From 1794 to 1890 (pre-immigration station period), Ellis Island played a
mostly uneventful but still important military role in United States
history. When the British occupied New York City during the duration of
the Revolutionary War, its large and powerful naval fleet was able to
sail unimpeded directly into New York Harbor. Therefore, it was deemed
critical by the United States Government that a series of coastal
fortifications in New York Harbor be constructed just prior to the War
of 1812. After much legal haggling over ownership of the island, the
Federal government purchased Ellis Island from New York State in 1808.
Ellis Island was approved as a site for fortifications and on it was
constructed a parapet for three tiers of circular guns, making the
island part of the new harbor defense system that included Castle
Clinton at the Battery, Castle Williams on Governor's Island, Fort Wood
on Bedloe's Island and two earthworks forts at the entrance to New York
Harbor at the Verrazano Narrows. The fort at Ellis Island was named Fort
Gibson in honor of a brave officer killed during the War of 1812.
Prior to 1890, the individual states (rather than the Federal
government) regulated immigration into the United States. Castle Garden
in the Battery (originally known as Castle Clinton) served as the New
York State immigration station from 1855 to 1890 and approximately eight
million immigrants, mostly from Northern and Western Europe, passed
through its doors. These early immigrants came from nations such as
England, Ireland, Germany and the Scandinavian countries and constituted
the first large wave of immigrants that settled and populated the
United States. Throughout the 1800's and intensifying in the latter half
of the 19th century, ensuing political instability, restrictive
religious laws and deteriorating economic conditions in Europe began to
fuel the largest mass human migration in the history of the world. It
soon became apparent that Castle Garden was ill-equipped and unprepared
to handle the growing numbers of immigrants arriving yearly.
Unfortunately compounding the problems of the small facility were the
corruption and incompetence found to be commonplace at Castle Garden.
The Federal government intervened and constructed a new
Federally-operated immigration station on Ellis Island. While the new
immigration station on Ellis Island was under construction, the Barge
Office at the Battery was used for the processing of immigrants. The new
structure on Ellis Island, built of "Georgia pine" opened on January 1,
1892; Annie Moore, a 15 year-old Irish girl, accompanied by her two
brothers entered history and a new country as she was the very first
immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island on January 2. Over the next 62
years, more than 12 million were to follow through this port of entry.
While there were many reasons to emigrate to America, no reason could be
found for what would occur only five years after the Ellis Island
Immigration Station opened. During the evening of June 14, 1897, a fire
on Ellis Island, burned the immigration station completely to the
ground. Although no lives were lost, many years of Federal and State
immigration records dating back to 1855 burned along with the pine
buildings that failed to protect them. The United States Treasury
quickly ordered the immigration facility be replaced under one very
important condition. All future structures built on Ellis Island had to
be fireproof. On December 17, 1900, the new Main Building was opened and
2,251 immigrants were received that day.
While most immigrants entered the United States through New York Harbor
(the most popular destination of steamship companies), others sailed
into many ports such as Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, San Francisco
and Savannah, Miami, and New Orleans. The great steamship companies like
White Star, Red Star, Cunard and Hamburg-America played a significant
role in the history of Ellis Island and immigration in general. First
and second class passengers who arrived in New York Harbor were not
required to undergo the inspection process at Ellis Island. Instead,
these passengers underwent a cursory inspection aboard ship; the theory
being that if a person could afford to purchase a first or second class
ticket, they were less likely to become a public charge in America due
to medical or legal reasons. The Federal government felt that these more
affluent passengers would not end up in institutions, hospitals or
become a burden to the state. However, first and second class passengers
were sent to Ellis Island for further inspection if they were sick or
had legal problems.
This scenario was far different for "steerage" or third class
passengers. These immigrants traveled in crowded and often unsanitary
conditions near the bottom of steamships with few amenities, often
spending up to two weeks seasick in their bunks during rough Atlantic
Ocean crossings. Upon arrival in New York City, ships would dock at the
Hudson or East River piers. First and second class passengers would
disembark, pass through Customs at the piers and were free to enter the
United States. The steerage and third class passengers were transported
from the pier by ferry or barge to Ellis Island where everyone would
undergo a medical and legal inspection.
If the immigrant's papers were in order and they were in reasonably good
health, the Ellis Island inspection process would last approximately
three to five hours. The inspections took place in the Registry Room (or
Great Hall), where doctors would briefly scan every immigrant for
obvious physical ailments. Doctors at Ellis Island soon became very
adept at conducting these "six second physicals." By 1916, it was said
that a doctor could identify numerous medical conditions (ranging from
anemia to goiters to varicose veins) just by glancing at an immigrant.
The ship's manifest log (that had been filled out back at the port of
embarkation) contained the immigrant's name and his/her answers to
twenty-nine questions. This document was used by the legal inspectors at
Ellis Island to cross examine the immigrant during the legal (or
primary) inspection. The two agencies responsible for processing
immigrants at Ellis Island were the United States Public Health Service
and the Bureau of Immigration (later known as the Immigration and
Naturalization Service - INS). On March 1, 2003, the Immigration and
Naturalization Service was re-structured and included into 3 separate
bureaus as part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. For more
information on these three bureaus and their mission, visit their
websites at the following:
Bureau of Citizenship & Immigration Services - www.uscis.gov
Bureau of Immigrations & Customs Enforcement - www.ice.gov
Bureau of Customs & Border Protection - www.cbp.gov
Despite the island's reputation as an "Island of Tears", the vast
majority of immigrants were treated courteously and respectfully, and
were free to begin their new lives in America after only a few short
hours on Ellis Island. Only two percent of the arriving immigrants were
excluded from entry. The two main reasons why an immigrant would be
excluded were if a doctor diagnosed that the immigrant had a contagious
disease that would endanger the public health or if a legal inspector
thought the immigrant was likely to become a public charge or an illegal
contract laborer.
During the early 1900's, immigration officials mistakenly thought that
the peak wave of immigration had already passed. Actually, immigration
was on the rise and in 1907, more people immigrated to the United States
than any other year; approximately 1.25 million immigrants were
processed at Ellis Island in that one year. Consequently, masons and
carpenters were constantly struggling to enlarge and build new
facilities to accommodate this greater than anticipated influx of new
immigrants. Hospital buildings, dormitories, contagious disease wards
and kitchens were all were feverishly constructed between 1900 and 1915.
As the United States entered World War I, immigration to the United
States decreased. Numerous suspected enemy aliens throughout the United
States were brought to Ellis Island under custody. Between 1918 and
1919, detained suspected enemy aliens were transferred from Ellis Island
to other locations in order for the United States Navy with the Army
Medical Department to take over the island complex for the duration of
the war. During this time, regular inspection of arriving immigrants was
conducted on board ship or at the docks. At the end of World War I, a
big "Red Scare" spread across America and thousands of suspected alien
radicals were interned at Ellis Island. Hundreds were later deported
based upon the principal of guilt by association with any organizations
advocating revolution against the Federal government. In 1920, Ellis
Island reopened as an immigration receiving station and 225,206
immigrants were processed that year.
From the very beginning of the mass migration that spanned the years
(roughly) 1880 to 1924, an increasingly vociferous group of politicians
and nativists demanded increased restrictions on immigration. Laws and
regulations such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, the Alien Contract Labor
Law and the institution of a literacy test barely stemmed this flood
tide of new immigrants. Actually, the death knell for Ellis Island, as a
major entry point for new immigrants, began to toll in 1921. It reached
a crescendo between 1921 with the passage of the Quota Laws and 1924
with the passage of the National Origins Act. These restrictions were
based upon a percentage system according to the number of ethnic groups
already living in the United States as per the 1890 and 1910 Census. It
was an attempt to preserve the ethnic flavor of the "old immigrants",
those earlier settlers primarily from Northern and Western Europe. The
perception existed that the newly arriving immigrants mostly from
southern and eastern Europe were somehow inferior to those who arrived
earlier.
After World War I, the United States began to emerge as a potential
world power. United States embassies were established in countries all
over the world, and prospective immigrants now applied for their visas
at American consulates in their countries of origin. The necessary
paperwork was completed at the consulate and a medical inspection was
also conducted there. After 1924, the only people who were detained at
Ellis Island were those who had problems with their paperwork, as well
as war refugees and displaced persons.
Ellis Island still remained open for many years and served a multitude
of purposes. During World War II, enemy merchant seamen were detained in
the baggage and dormitory building. The United States Coast Guard also
trained about 60,000 servicemen there. In November of 1954 the last
detainee, a Norwegian merchant seaman named Arne Peterssen was released,
and Ellis Island officially closed.
In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson declared Ellis Island part of the
Statue of Liberty National Monument. Ellis Island was opened to the
public on a limited basis between 1976 and 1984. Starting in 1984, Ellis
Island underwent a major restoration, the largest historic restoration
in U.S. history. The $160 million dollar project was funded by
donations made to The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
in partnership with the National Park Service. The Main Building was
reopened to the public on September 10, 1990 as the Ellis Island
Immigration Museum. Journeys: The Peopling of America(r) Center, 1550 -
1890 a major expansion of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum which
explores arrivals before the Ellis Island Era, opened in 2011. Journeys:
The Peopling of America(r) Center, 1550 - 1890 a major expansion of the
Ellis Island Immigration Museum which explores arrivals before the
Ellis Island Era, opened in 2011. The museum received almost 2 million
visitors annually until it closed in October 2012 due to damage from
Superstorm Sandy. While the exhibits remained intact, the infrastructure
was destroyed by flooding, and the museum is undergoing necessary
repairs and upgrades.
Source: The National Park Service
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