1 / 17

Ellis Island: A History

Ellis Island: A History. Christina Durkee. Ellis Island. 1776. The Island was owned by Samuel Ellis, a New York merchant. Ellis’s heirs sold the island to the State of New York in 1808 who decided not to change the name. 1890. The States turned over immigration to the Federal Government.

briar
Download Presentation

Ellis Island: A History

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Ellis Island: A History Christina Durkee

  2. Ellis Island

  3. 1776 • The Island was owned by Samuel Ellis, a New York merchant. • Ellis’s heirs sold the island to the State of New York in 1808 who decided not to change the name.

  4. 1890 • The States turned over immigration to the Federal Government. • Congress appropriated $75,000 to build the first Federal Immigration Station on Ellis Island • Landfill was used to double the size of the island.

  5. 1892 • On January 1 the first Ellis Island Immigration Station opened. • Annie Moore, 15, was the first immigrant to be processed on January 2nd. • 450,000 immigrants were processed in the first year

  6. Passenger List • Annie Moore 

  7. 1897 • On June 15th a fire of unknown origin destroyed the station which had been made of Georgia Pine. • There were no casualties but records dating from 1855 to the day of the fire were destroyed.

  8. 1900 • The present day Main Building was opened. • It cost 1.5 million dollars to build and was designed to process up to 5,000 immigrants a day.

  9. 1907 • This was the peak year for immigration into the US. • A total of 1,004,756 immigrants were received. • April 17 had the highest daily total for the year at 11,747 being processed.

  10. 1916 • Explosions thought to be set by German saboteurs at Black Toms Wharf in New Jersey severely damaged the buildings at Ellis Island. • The buildings were rebuilt again this time with the addition of a new barrel vaulted ceiling over the great hall designed by the Guastavino Brothers. • Ellis Island Photo Album

  11. 1917 • US entered WWI in Europe. • Ellis Island was used to detain crews from German merchant ships that were anchored in NY Harbor. • Suspected enemy aliens were rounded up and brought to Ellis Island to be held.

  12. 1918-1919 • US Army and Navy took over the island to use as a way station and treatment center for returning sick and wounded Americans from the war. • There was a sharp decline in immigration from 178,416 in 1915 to 28,867 in 1918.

  13. 1920 to Present • Although there was a resurgence in immigration following the war, the Immigration Act of 1924 did much to stem the tide of immigrants. • The island was mainly used in the following years as a Coast Guard Station and then a detention center during the cold war.

  14. 1920 to Present continued • In 1976 Ellis Island was opened to the public. • In 1984 the island underwent an extensive renovation and became a major tourist attraction.

  15. Immigration Museum • In December of 1990 the Ellis Island Immigration Museum was opened and has received over 20 million visitors to date.

  16. Map of Ellis Island interior

  17. References • www.EllisIsland.org • www.EllisIsland.com • www.NPS.gov • www.lowermanhattan.info

More Related