Ellis Island

To the Left is a map of Ellis Island. It is located just outside of New Jersey and New York.

Down below is a faraway image of Ellis Island. Ellis Island was the main entry for immigrants coming to the U.S. for a better life, to escape war, escape poverty and sometimes to get married. It opened in January of 1892 and went till November 12, 1954. Many immigrants were "processed" -- as many as 20 million.

Records were kept of the people who immigrated through Ellis Island. These records included information like age, gender, race, and name. Most often their surnames were changed to make it easier for Americans to pronounce and easier to read. When my ancestors on my mother's side came through Ellis Island our name was changed from Chilofsky to Childs. Ellis Island grew from 3 and a half acres to 27 acres when they added the dirt dugout from the subway system in N.Y.C.

Sometimes diseases were spread on them and hundreds of people got sick. An example is on October 27 1905 when people discovered that two ships, each with about 1,000 people on them had spread smallpox throughout almost the entire ship, people did not notice until it had already spread and they had gotten through there health inspection.

This is a steamboat arriving in the
U.S. with immigrants aboard. The most expensive ticket from Europe to U.S. cost $65. Most could not afford that and were treated as "steerage." These immigrants traveled in unsanitary conditions. It was crowded aboard the ship and it had few facilities. They often traveled near the bottom of the boat and a lot of the times they got seasick.






Many of your ancestors came through Ellis Island. 4o%of the people living in the U.S. today can trace their ancestors back to Ellis Island. If you could pay your full boat ticket then they considered you rich and in first class, then second class and third. Third class was poor. The first and second class were let out straight into New York because they figured if you could pay your boat ticket then you can support yourself. The third class was taken to Ellis Island where they were inspected for any visible health conditions. After they went up a flight of stairs they were marked with chalk: H-if your huffing and puffing for heart condition and L- if you were limping which means your lame. Some people wiped the chalk off. The people that weren't limping or huffing and puffing could proceed further. And the other people were taken out of line to get a further inspection. After the further inspection if it is "bad" you were sent home or put in the island's hospital. If the immigrant's papers were in order he or she were believed to be in good condition.

The inspections took place in the great hall. The main hall of Ellis Island was designed like cattle stock yards. There were crowded bunk beds, long waits. The immigration officials had two minutes to ask a series of 29 questions to the immigrants. For instance:What's your name? Where do you come from? Why do you come here? How much money do you have? Let me see it! Do you have any friends or relatives here?




To the left is an immigrant's diary found on Ellis Island.





Down Below is a primary document excluding a man and his family from Ellis Island.


















Here is a graph showing the amount of immigrants per decade. From 1821-1981.










The immigrants came to the U.S. to get a better life. It was their dream. This led to a growth in the population in the U.S.A.. which helped the U.S. because then they could have more people work in the factories and the factory owners could make more money. And now there are so many people in the U.S. because their ancestors came through Ellis Island into the U.S.A. The Statue of Liberty stands for freedom and the immigrants that came on the boats hoped that the U.S. was the land of freedom.




Emma C. & Laura S.
(Deborah's design team)