Ellis Island

Ellis Island is located next to the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. 12 million immigrants came through Ellis Island between 1892 to 1954. Forty percent of Americans have ancestors or relatives that came through the Ellis Island majorily from Europe. Have you seen The Godfather Part II? In the very beginning a young Vito Andolini, whose name was changed by an immigration official to Corleone, came to Ellis Island from Sicily and was put into the Ellis Island hospital before being released where he later settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Many Americans went through a perilous adventure on the sea to come to the United States with little or no money and not a clear indication of what would happen to them once they stepped off of the boat into America. The process of getting here was perilous but the waiting to be cleared to get through immigration was also. There were immigrants who were turned away because of illness (real or suspected), died after contracting diseases on the boat, or were young children or teens without anyone to rely on. Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty signified the beginning of the new lives that immigrants came searching for in America.

Interesting fact: The first immigrant to come through Ellis Island was 10 year old Annie Moore from Ireland.

Well-known immigrants: Frank Capra, Xavier Cugat, Max Factor, Bob Hope, Irving Berlin, and Rudolph  Valentino

Ellis Island was opened as a museum in 1990. Since that time they have developed a geneology center that helps visitors track their relatives through ship manifests and institution records. Visitors can gain a first hand account of what the rooms in Ellis Island were like, where immigrants stood waiting to be recorded in ledgers and checked out by physicians before being given the OK to go into Manhattan, and items from the period that were used by and for immigrants and the officials who managed the facility.

The museum is extremely vast and they have so much information to take in that I would suggest donating the better part of a day to going there if you don't have young children who might be bored after an hour or more. It truly is amazing to think of how many people came through Ellis Island and all the trials they went through to get to America.

Tickets for Ellis Island are also sold at Castle Clinton in Battery Square Park along with the tickets to get to the Statue of Liberty. They begin at $12.00 for adults.

Ellis Island

New York, New York 10004

(212) 363-3200

http://www.nps.gov/

http://www.ellisisland.org/

Take the 1 to South Ferry Station, the 4 or 5 to Bowling Green Station or the R/W to Whitehall Station

You can also get to both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey by the New Jersey Ferry. Purchase tickets for the New Jersey Ferry from Central Railroad Terminal Building and Museum in Liberty State Park.

Also be sure to have a sweater or jacket in late spring or fall because the boat ride can get really chilly! If you want to draw some connections between the immigration to America and the next stop for many in their new country check out the Lower East Side Tenement Museum!