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ELLIS ISLAND (1892-1954)

ELLIS ISLAND (1892-1954). Ellis Island LOCATION. What is Ellis Island?. US government building on Ellis Island, NY (Built: 1892) Processing station that regulated the massive flow of immigrants coming to the US from 1892-1954

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ELLIS ISLAND (1892-1954)

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  1. ELLIS ISLAND (1892-1954)

  2. Ellis Island LOCATION

  3. What is Ellis Island? • US government building on Ellis Island, NY (Built: 1892) • Processing station that regulated the massive flow of immigrants coming to the US from 1892-1954 • Station where immigrants were checked for disease, disability, etc before being allowed into the US (also helped US keep a record of who was entering the country).

  4. Why Build Ellis Island? • Immigrants usually had a limited knowledge of English and American ways • Immigrants often fell prey to swindlers & thieves that frequented major ports of immigrant entry. • To prevent that sort of criminal activity and regulate foreigners, US government built Ellis Island!

  5. Obstacles • Ellis Island: Original Building burned down-replaced by brick structures • Federal Government had difficult task of ridding Ellis Island of corruption and thievery. • President T. Roosevelt: Very involved in removing immigrant officials/employees of Ellis Island who were found guilty of tricking immigrants out of their money and other crimes.

  6. Immigrant Regulation • Federal Government did NOT want immigrants bringing contagious diseases into the country • Also did not want to admit anyone likely to become a ward of the state

  7. Medical Examiners E.I. Doctors denied anyone: • Anyone having or suspected of having any of several defects or diseases of the body OR mind. (i.e. trachoma: disease of eyes common in SE Europe) • Stair walk, health exam, interviews, mental/intelligence tests all were part of the process.

  8. Medical Exams

  9. Quote: • “The doctors and everybody else that were supposed to interrogate us were dressed in uniforms. That had terrible effect on me. We were scared of the uniforms. It took us back to the Russian uniforms that we were running away from.” -Katherine Beychok, Russian Jewish Immigrant in 1910

  10. Quote: “They asked us questions. ‘How much is two and one? How much is two and two?’ But the next young girl, also from our city, went and they asked her, ‘How do you wash stairs, from the top or from the bottom?’ She says, ‘I don’t come to America to wash stairs.’ -Pauline Notkoff, a Polish Jewish immigrant (1917)

  11. Result of Ellis Island • A new beginning (US industry had created many jobs for foreign workers) • Families Split Up (trauma) • Many immigrants received new names • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2lJs-0swH8&mode=related&search= (Hanson Family)

  12. A New Beginning! • 6 Decades= 71% of all immigrants in US • By 1954= 20 million passed through E.I. • ½ of all Americans can trace their ancestry by way of E.I.!!

  13. Quote: “I remember my grandfather always telling me how he knew he could be rich in America because he saw riches in the architecture of Ellis Island. He felt that if they let the poor in such a gorgeous hall then life in this country was just.” -Rosanne Welch, granddaughter of Guiseppe Italiano (1904)

  14. Can You Trace Your Ancestors To E.I.?

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