Ellis Island - The Golden Door Into America

Ellis Island is a very remarkable and historical place; it is an island where many of our ancestors saw America for the first time. This island was considered to be the "golden door" into America (Hamill 1).

"Immigrants sailed to America in hopes of carving out new destinies for themselves" (I-Channel 1). They fled from hardships such as famine, poverty, political unrest, or religious persecution (Bell 71). Immigrants journeyed to the U.S. in search of opportunity and freedom. They were seeking the opportunity to own their own house or some land to farm (Feeney 1). Aliens to this new land, immigrants felt even more alone knowing they left behind familiar communities and homes for a new land and unfamiliar people (Bell 71). "Penny by penny, families saved their money to pay for the trip to America. Very often, the trip cost too much for the whole family, so the father went first. He would get a job and later send for the family" (Stein 9). Substandard food and sanitation conditions only compounded the misery for many that had become sick aboard the ships. Nevertheless, the promise of opportunity and freedom made even the most arduous trips worth it (Stein 1).

The biggest fear of many immigrants was being sent back because they were deemed unhealthy, unemployable or politically and socially undesirable (Kraft 1). Worries about the outcome of the physical examination required of all new persons entering the country; anxiety over the many questions that might be asked by the immigration officers; uncertainties about finding a place to live or a job to sustain the immigrant and his family (Bell 71). Most of them had sold their homes, land and possessions to come to America (Kraft 1). Then there was also the inevitable and unspoken fear of possible rejection and deportation (Bell 71). The first and second class passengers were allowed to pass inspection aboard ship and go directly ashore. Only steerage passengers had to take the ferry to Ellis Island for inspection. However, for all of them the trip meant days and sometimes months aboard overcrowded ships often traveling through hazardous weather (I-Channel 1).

The immigration station was the first stop on American soil for the poorest immigrants. They had to convince officials that their health, politics, job prospects and finances made the fit to become American citizens (Kraft 1). Eighty percent of immigrants were processed through the Ellis Island's station in four or five hours, about the same amount of time as many visitors spend there. Only 20% were detained; 2% were sent back (Kraft 1).

For more than six decades- 1892 to 1954- the immigrant depot processed the greatest tide of incoming humanity in the nation's history (Stein 1). As early as 1882, immigrants from eastern and southern Europe outnumbered those from western and northern Europe. Southern Italians, Poles, Greeks, Austro-Hungarians, Eastern European Jews and Russians swelled to a flood between 1892 and 1914 (Kroll 7). Thousands of immigrants coming to the country of freedom, in search of a better life, arrived at ports in Boston, San Francisco, and New Orleans, but mostly they arrived in New York (Kroll 6). More than 70% of immigrants fleeing to America landed in New York, the country's largest port (Feeney 1).

"Ellis Island is a symbol of America's immigrant heritage" (Stein 1). It has quite a history of various uses and curious anecdotes prior to the construction of the first immigrant receiving station in the 1890s (Burdick 11). Few of the island's staff and hardly any of the immigrants ever knew much about Ellis Island's history before it served as the "golden door" (Hamill 1). Used and abandoned, frequently bought and sold, named and renamed, the island's only consistent tenants for hundreds of years were the seagulls that thrived on its oyster-rich shoals. Although Ellis Island would become the site and symbol of one of the most remarkable periods of immigration in history, nothing about the island suggested the tremendous significance it would acquire. To the early European settlers, the island itself seemed entirely unremarkable. It was considered to be uninhabitable by the Indians, Dutch and English; shallow water surrounding the island made access difficult for ships to harbor (Burdick 8).

"An island of many names: The earliest recorded names of Ellis Island reflect the common opinion that it was a place unfit for humans and best left to the animals, a judgment that would, ironically, reappear centuries later when some social commentators decried the inhumane treatment of immigrants at the receiving station" (Burdick 11). Indians as far back as AD used the island, originally called Gull Island, as a fishing base. The name was later changed to Oyster Island in the days when it was possible to eat things that came out of the New York Harbor (Hamill 1). Although it was used primarily for the harvesting of oysters and the drying of fishing nets, some wealthy Dutchmen found it and attractive spot for parties and picnics (Burdick 12). Near the end of the 18th century, a butcher named Samuel Ellis bought Oyster Island (Hamill 1). Samuel Ellis built a tavern there, but in 1794, the United States was getting close to war with Great Britain. The state of New York began building forts around the New York harbor. Ellis Island was chosen as one of the sites (Kroll 4). New York State acquired the island in 1808 and turned it over to the federal government. "The government wanted to make sure the forts were completed before war came, and they were- just in time for the War of 1812. But it was all for nothing. The forts weren't involved in the fighting, and afterwards Fort Gibson on Ellis Island became a place for the U.S. navy to store ammunition" (Kroll 5). By 1861, Fort Gibson was dismantled and in its place, the navy constructed a magazine that would soon be put to use in the Civil War as a dispatching center for shells and powder. " This seems to typify Ellis Island's place in the first three centuries of American history: occasionally involved but always on the outskirts, a historical footnote for the remarkable transformation it would undergo in the 1890s" (Burdick 18).

Between 1848 and 1854, French, Germans, and Irish crowded the New York City docks. Often they were cheated and robbed. New York decided it would be safer and easier for immigrants to pass through the old Southwest Battery fort at the tip of Manhattan. By then, the fort had been transformed into a concert hall named Castle Garden (Kroll 6). With so many people coming to America, the U.S. government found it very necessary to take control of immigration in 1890. At the Port of New York, Castle Garden had become too small, and people were still getting cheated and robbed (Kroll 7). Federal officials sought a new site for an immigration center to replace the congested and overwhelmed Castle Garden. The government chose Ellis Island to replace Castle Garden (Burdick 11). At the same the navy's ammunition was transferred from Ellis to Fort Wadsworth on the Narrows. The new immigration station took 2, strenuous years to build. During that time, immigrants passed through the Barge Office, a cramped U.S. Customs Service building not far from Castle Garden (Kroll 71). Ellis Island was only chosen because the preferred location, nearby Bedloe's Island, was already busy with the Statue of Liberty (Burdick 11). While the Statue of Liberty was a world-renowned symbol of liberty and opportunity, the sight of Ellis Island also stirred hope in the hearts and minds of the immigrant (Feeney 1).

"Opened on January 1, 1892, Ellis Island ushered in a new era of immigration with each newcomer's eligibility to land now determined by federal law. The government established a special bureau to process the record numbers that were arriving at the end of the 19th century" (Feeney 1). Up to 700 people worked on the island (Ellis Island 1). Between 1892 and 1954, over 12 million immigrants, mostly from Europe, came through Ellis Island, more than passed through any other U.S. immigration station (Kraft 1). The island was at its peak of activity during the years between 1900 and 1914. Immigrants fleeing Czarist Russia, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Ireland, and Poland passed in their millions through this portal to America (Bell 98). In 1907alone, the peak year of immigration, more than one million immigrants passed through Ellis Island; 12,000 of them on one day alone (Hamill 1). An average of five thousand immigrants a day were processed, seven days a week (Ellis Island 1). On April 1, 1907-the most active day of all- 11,745 immigrants were admitted (Bell 98).

If all went smoothly with the inspector, and in most cases it did, final approval would follow. They had made it. It was the cause for quiet and sometimes not so quiet celebration (Burdick 61). Only 1 out of 10 immigrants is kept for more questioning; about 2 out of 100 were sent back to where they came from. Also, there were three stairways, the right row led to a boat for New Jersey, the middle row led to a boat for Manhattan, but no one wanted to go down the left row: it led to more tests and you might get separated from your family (Ellis Island 1).

Getting off the island, locating relatives, and arranging travel to their final destinations could be very difficult and dangerous for the emigrants. Money could be exchanged on Ellis Island and, after 1904, railroad tickets could be bought there. The immigrants had to wait in line for sometimes hours to purchase rail tickets to their final destination. Once the immigrants, sometimes called "greenhorns," set foot on American soil, wearing their traditional clothing and speaking their native languages, the elation of arrival gave way to the reality of culture shock (Burdick 61). Even after being advised to dress as inconspicuous Americans, many would settle in ethnically concentrated areas, however, where the old world traditions thrived again (Burdick 88). Others struggled to find living arrangements, suffer damaging isolation, and find themselves the victims of exploitative employers and opportunistic criminals (Burdick 61).

Fortunately, the immigrants were not alone. Social welfare organizations of all kinds worked tirelessly to protect and support them. Such organizations as the Polish Society, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, the Italian Welfare League, and the Catholic Welfare Council served and represented particular nationalities and religions. Others such as the Immigrants "Protective League and Travelers" Aid Society offered their services to any immigrant in need. These groups clothed and fed immigrants, helped them find housing and employment, and often worked on behalf of those detained on Ellis Island. Immigrant welfare organizations went a long way to humanize the process and introduce the newcomers to a supportive American community (Burdick 62). Ellis Island was a place of immense happiness or great sorrow. The coming together of families that had been separated for years was a marvelous sight to see. Unfortunately, times did occur when a family had to be separated because of deportation or death. Then the immigrant would wish they were somewhere else (Burdick 64).

World War I, the Russian Revolution, and the developing Red Scare in America hardly marked the beginning of the immigration restrictionists' argument (Burdick 74). Angry outbursts against foreigners after the war led to the Red Scare of 1919-1920 (Kroll 27). The principal arguments used by regulators had usually been practical in nature (Burdick 74). They wanted to limit and pace the assimilation of immigrants not America. The wanted to make sure that the land of opportunity, and especially the American work force, could absorb the immigrants without disturbing the quality of life and jobs available to establish citizens (Burdick 75). In 1920 and 1921, after the wartime slump, immigration numbers rose to rival those of the peak years of the early twentieth century. For the bewildered Ellis Island staff, still depleted from the war years, this must have seemed like a return to business as usual. In actuality, it was the last great flame of immigration, quickly smothered by sweeping changes in U.S. immigration policy (Burdick 76).

In 1921 and 1924, Congress passed acts limiting the number of immigrants from all countries, but especially from those that were disliked. The Immigration Act of 1924 also made it possible for immigrants to be examined before they left for America (Kroll 28). With these new developments, Congress began closing the golden door to mass immigration in 1924 (Hamill 1). Ellis Island was no longer needed as an immigration station (Kroll 29). It was then primarily used for those facing deportation (Hamill 1). The island also became a center for holding suspicious foreigners, as well as a place to receive people escaping from Germany, more specifically, Hitler. World War II occasioned the last of action at Ellis Island. First, the threat of war in Europe spurred a brief rise in immigration numbers (Burdick 83). In 1939, as America attempted to stay uninvolved, the U.S. Coast Guard turned the island into their station and used the facilities for training (Kroll 29). After the United States entered the war in 1941, Ellis Island once again served as a detention center for alien enemies, and its hospitals were again devoted to the war effort. Finally, President Harry S. Truman signed the Displace Persons Act of 1948. This measure allowed a total of nearly 400,000 war-victim Europeans into the country over a period of several years. A humane and generous exception to the rule, the Displaced Persons Act did not hold the gate open for long. A short time later, the McCarran-Walter Act, a wide-ranging and potent restrictionist law designed to protect the United States from communism, reduced immigration quotas to new lows (Burdick 84).

Two years after the passage of the restrictive McCarran-Walter Act in 1952, Ellis Island was abandoned. Its 35 buildings, unheated and forlorn, rotted for decades in the fierce weather of New York Harbor. Beams rotted, rooftops fell in, and plaster dropped from walls. Pigeons lived in rafters of the Great Hall. Ellis Island became part of a past that not enough Americans cared to honor (Hamill 1).

Then everything changed. In October 1964, Stewart Udall, Interior Secretary for President Lydon B. Johnson, visited Ellis Island and recognized immediately that it was a true American shrine. He urged Johnson to make it part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. In 1965, President Johnson signed the proclamation. The campaign to save what was left of the island now began. In 1982 the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Foundation was established to restore both monuments (Kroll 30). The $160 million restoration, funded and managed by the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island Foundation, is the largest renovation ever undertaken in the United States (Hamill 1). After a lot of hard work, the entire main building was returned to the way it looked between 1918 and 1924. Its three floors were filled with exhibits telling the story of American immigration (Kroll 30). The Museum of Ellis Island Immigration gives one a new appreciation for what made this nation so special to the rest of the world. Rather than being about great discoveries, battles or revolutionary ideals, it pays tribute to the courage and determination of millions of people who came to America (Kraft 1). The most appealing artifacts at the museum are on the third floor in "Treasures from Home". Objects include Bibles, teddy bears, baptismal and wedding gowns, instruments, family photos- the cherished possessions that immigrants brought with them (Kraft 2). People and children who passed through Ellis Island donated toys, passports, and clothes to the museum. There was also articles, such as furniture, garments, and dishes, left by emigrants; they were either too burdensome to bring with them or got lost in the struggle to find one another (Ellis Island 1).

It has been several years since the partially restored immigration station reopened in New York Harbor (Kroll 30). Nearly 8 million people have visited the island since September 10, 1990 (Kraft 1). Today Ellis Island covers twenty-seven-and-a-half acres and has thirty-six buildings (Kroll 3). Before landfill, the island was three-and-a-half acres (Kroll 4). The most recent publicity of Ellis Island involved the controversy over whether the island belonged to New York or New Jersey. After a lot of time in court and much disputing, the court in a 6-3 decision accepted the reasoning of a court-appointed arbiter who said New Jersey can lay claim to all but three acres of the 27.5-acre Hudson River island. At the same time, by ruling that N.Y. has jurisdiction over only the original island landmass, the court opened the door to a raft of tax and legal complications. The boundary cuts through at least tree renovated buildings, including the main building and its immigration museum. Reaction to the court's decision was swift and parochial, with New Yorkers calling the decision an affront to history and New Jersey officials applauding the court for correcting a long-enduring offense (NJO News 1). There are many resulting aspects, because of this ruling, that need to be worked out between the two states such as an agreeable boundary and taxes (NJO News 2). Even though the island legally belongs to two separate states, the island itself is a place of our country's history and our heritage (NJO News 4).

Over sixteen million people landed on Ellis Island by the end of the end of the immigration years (Kroll 3). Today their descendants account for almost 40% of the country's population. Every day, thousands of people arrive by boat, at the very spot where immigrants arrived in barges and ferries. They were searching for a new life in the land of opportunity and country of sweet freedom (Kraft 1). Descendants of immigrants are now able to climb up the stairs and enter the Great Hall, and think about all the hopes, pain, and tumultuous joy their ancestors experienced (Hamill 1).

Works Cited

Bell, James B. and Richard I. Abrams. In Search of Liberty. Garden City: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1984.

Burdick, John. Ellis Island: Gateway of Hope. New York: SMITHMARK Publications, 1997.

Ellis Island. Ellis Island. Online. Tribune Internet Services. 5 Nov. 1998.

Feeney, Brian. Ellis Island. New York: GPO, 1996.

Hamill, Pete."Ellis Island becomes a museum of memories." History Channel. Online. Tribune Internet Services. 16 Nov. 1998.

"I-Channel." The Journey. Online. Tribune Internet Services. 4 Nov. 1998.

Kraft, Randy. "Retrace historic steps on Ellis Island." Tenniserver. Online. Tribune Internet Services. 16 Nov. 1998.

Kroll, Steven. Ellis Island: Doorway to Freedom. New York: Holiday House, 1995.

"NJO News." Now it=s Ellis Island, NJ. Online. Tribune Internet Services. 5 Nov. 1998.

Stein, R. Conrad. Ellis Island. Chicago: Childrens Press, 1992.