Ellis Island

For the island of Australia, see Ellis Island, Queensland.

Ellis Island, at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, was at one time the main immigration port for immigrants entering the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Ellis Island is within the boundaries of Jersey City, New Jersey, but is administered by the states of New Jersey and New York.

Ellis Island takes its name from Samuel Ellis, a Welsh immigrant who owned the island during the late 1700s and kept a tavern, serving sailors and local fishermen. ^*

History

The federal immigration station opened on January 1, 1892 and was closed in November 1954 but not before processing more than 12 million immigrants. Previously immigrants were processed at Castle Clinton. Only about 2 percent were denied admission to the U.S. and sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as chronic disease, criminal background, or insanity National Park Service: Ellis Island, retrieved January 12, 2006.. Immigrants were examined by doctors and questioned by government officials. Many who were allowed entry settled in New York and northern New Jersey for at least their first few years in America. During this time period, Angel Island ( between Alcatraz and the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco Bay served a similar purpose on the West Coast, processing mostly Chinese immigrants.

Ellis Island was the first stop for most immigrants from Europe. There, they were processed before they could enter the United States. First, they had to pass a physical examination. Those with serious health problems or diseases were sent home or were held in the island's hospital facilities for long periods of time. Next, they were asked a series of questions, including name, occupation, work experience, and the amount of money they carried with them. Generally, those immigrants who were approved spent from hours up to a day at Ellis Island. However, more than three thousand would-be immigrants died on Ellis Island while being held in the hospital facilities. Some unskilled workers and infirm migrants were rejected outright because they were considered "likely to become a public charge."

Writer Louis Adamic came to America from Slovenia, in southeastern Europe, in 1913. Adamic described the night he spent on Ellis Island. He and many other immigrants slept on bunk beds in a huge hall. Lacking a warm blanket, the young man "shivered, sleepless, all night, listening to snores" and dreams "in perhaps a dozen different languages."

After 1924, Ellis Island was only used for detainees and refugees. Ordinary immigrants were processed through other facilities.

As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, Ellis Island National Monument, along with Statue of Liberty National Monument, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

Today, Ellis Island houses a museum, reachable by ferry from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey and from the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. The Statue of Liberty, sometimes thought to be on Ellis Island because of its symbolism as a welcome to immigrants, is actually on nearby Liberty Island.

Ellis island was also known as "The Isle of Tears" or "Heartbreak island."Davis, Kenneth (2003), Don't Know Much About American History, HarperTrophy, ISBN 0064408361 ("Isle of Tears" or "Heartbreak Island," p. 123) Many immigrants were sent back to their countries and did not become U.S. citizens after a long travel to Ellis island.

Legacy

Ellis Island is also known as a place where people changed their names; however, this is largely legend. It is said that if the immigration officer could not spell the original name, they would come up with an approximation, or something shorter or simpler, such as "Ellen Pollock" for "Helena Polonowycz". This is said to have been especially common when the newcomer couldn't read and write English. However, immigrants' identities were backed by their travel documents and ship lists, and they were often assisted by immigration societies of fellow countrymen. Very few cases of name changes can be traced to immigration processing while "Americanization" of ethnic names was a common occurrence as immigrants blended into everyday existence among friends and coworkers in their new country. Still, such events were not unheard of; author Herman Raucher has stated that his grandfather, an Austrian Jew who spoke no English, had his name, which was difficult to pronounce for English speakers, changed at Ellis Island to "Raucher," the German word for "smoker."

Ellis Island mainly consisted of two types of immigrants: old immigrants and new immigrants. Old immigrants came prior to 1890, mostly from northern and western Europe. New immigrants came after 1890 from the Eastern and Southern parts of Europe. It is said that newer immigrants were not accepted as easily for cultural reasons as well as physical reasons (some were not as white as the old immigrants; white peoples were seen as superior).

Many immigrants were tested for mental problems, physical problems and other illnesses. Those who were wealthy did not have to take these exams.

In order to become a U.S. citizen, immigrants had to pass exams, including reading, writing, and a U.S. history exam. An immigrant did not have to renounce their citizenship from their mother country.

More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Many Americans can trace their immigrant ancestors through Ellis Island.

Jurisdiction

Ellisislandhallinside.jpg

On October 15, 1965, Ellis Island was proclaimed a national monument and is managed by the National Park Service as part of Statue of Liberty National Monument. Because it is owned by the federal government the long-running jurisdictional dispute between the states of New Jersey and New York was more symbolic than practical. The island is on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. During the colonial period, however, New York had taken possession, and New Jersey had acquiesced in that action. In a compact between the two states, approved by U.S. Congress in 1834, New Jersey therefore agreed that New York would continue to have exclusive jurisdiction over the island.

Thereafter, however, the federal government expanded the island by landfill, so that it could accommodate the immigration station that opened in 1892. Landfilling continued until 1934. Nine-tenths of the current area is artificial island that did not exist at the time of the interstate compact.

New Jersey contended that the new extensions were part of New Jersey, since they were not part of the previous cession. New Jersey eventually filed suit to establish its jurisdiction, leading New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani famously to remark that his father, an Italian who immigrated through Ellis Island, never intended to go to New Jersey.

The dispute eventually reached the United States Supreme Court, which ruled in 1998 that New Jersey had jurisdiction over all portions of the island created after the original compact was approved. This caused several immediate problems: some buildings, for instance, fell into the territory of both states. New Jersey and New York soon agreed to share jurisdiction over the island.

Inspection Symbols

These inspection symbols were chalked on the clothing of sick or otherwise "defective" hopeful immigrants, and some only entered the country by surreptitiously wiping them off.

C - Crabs
B - Back
CT - Trachoma
E - Eyes
EC - Eye Problems
F - Face
FT - Feet
G - Goiter
H - Heart
K - Hernia
L - Lameness
M - Vaginal Infection
N - Neck
P - Physical and Lungs
PG - Pregnancy
SC - Scalp (fungus)
SI - Special Inquiry
WOP - Without papers
X - Suspected Mental Defect
X (circled) - Definite Mental Defect

There are one or two signs not available here.

Other

The main building now houses a museum in addition to being a historic site. It is legally in New York state, while the southern part of the island, which holds the unrestored infirmary and hospital buildings, was given back to New Jersey in the court settlement. There is now a land bridge that connects Ellis Island with Jersey City, although visitors must travel by ferry.

Trivia

The last person processed at Ellis Island was Arne Petterssen, a Norwegian seaman who was sent home for overstaying his work permit.

Media

The island was a scene used in Hitch, a motion picture starring Will Smith. He and Eva Mendes take a jet ski to the island and explore the building.

The IMAX 3D movie, Across the Sea of Time, about the New York immigrant experience, incorporates both modern footage and historical photographs of Ellis Island.

Ellis Island as an entry port to the United States is described in detail in Mottel the Cantor's Son by Sholom Aleichem. It is also the place where Don Corleone was held as an immigrant boy in The Godfather Part II.

References

External links

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