ELLIS ISLAND - CanalBlog



ELLIS ISLAND - GATEWAY TO AMERICA

From across Upper New York Bay, Ellis Island lies in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. Its handsome buildings occupy a permanent place in America's history. Indeed, more than half of the immigrants entering the United States between 1892 and 1924 passed through its gates.

The need for an island as an immigration control center was decided on because of the number of "escapes" from Castle Garden while immigrants were waiting to be processed. Once clear of Battery Park, in Manhattan, the crowded ghetto quickly swallowed any escapee.

Ellis Island opened as an immigration station in January 1, 1892 and was designed originally to handle only 5,000 people per day (It was planned to accommodate half a million arrivals a year). However, the 25 acres of Ellis Island soon became a babel of noise and confusion, a bedlam of people : Poverty, anti-Semitism, as well as overpopulation in southern and eastern Europe were pressuring more people to emigrate, and numbers ballooned. At the beginning of the century, when the pogroms in Europe caused terror and exodus among the Jews, the staff of Ellis Island were forced to handle as many as 15,000 immigrants a day. And that included only steerage passengers (the great majority), while first- and second-cabin passengers were cursorily processed on shipboard!

While mass examination of immigrants at Ellis Island ended in 1924, it continued to be used as a detention center for immigrants whose status in this country was questioned.

According to recent estimates a total of 16,000,000 or more immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island. In 1954, the island was permanently closed as an active immigration station. In 1965, it was added by Presidential Proclamation to the Statue of Liberty National Monument and was opened for public tours in 1976. Following its closure in 1984 for a $ 160,000,000 restoration, Ellis Island was finally re-opened to the public in 1990 with new exhibits, films, and visitor programs.

ELLIS ISLAND

Suppose for a moment, that we could return to Ellis Island when it teemed with immigrants and share the experience of an immigrant's progress :

"When I first arrived in this country I was filled with so many hopes, dreams and fears. One of the greatest fears was of a place known as Ellis Island, but called by us the 'Island of Tears'. In my village I had heard of this place to be inspected and maybe, it was said, sent back home if you did not pass. Sent home to what? To where? I worried. I tried to convince myself that America would never send me home once I had reached her doors. I will never forget the joy I felt when I saw the tall buildings of New York and the Statue of Liberty after so many dark days on board that crowded ship. There was the symbol of all my dreams… freedom to start out in a new life. Then came Ellis Island. When I landed, the noise and the commotion were unbelievable. There were so many languages being spoken. The shouting and pushing guards calling out the big numbers on the tags attached to our coats created more noise and confusion. Surely, I felt, the noise surrounding the Tower of Babel could not have been worse. We were told 'keep moving' and 'hurry up' until we reached the Registry Room. Here, newcomers awaited questioning by inspectors seated under the American flag.

Interpreters asked, "What is your age?", "What work do you do?" The first medical inspectors proceeded to the preliminary "six-second medical", looked at face, hair, neck and hands. I walked on to the examination room where a doctor inspected me for diseases. Again I moved to another doctor, the "eye man" I had heard so many terrible rumors about. I passed inspection but the man in the front was marked with an "E" in blue chalk on his coat and sent to another area. I had heard that an "E" meant deportation ("E" actually meant eye problem).

Finally, I went before a tired, stern looking official who checked my name against the ship's passenger list and quickly fired questions at me: "Can you read and write? Do you have a job waiting for you? Who paid your passage? Have you ever been in prison? How much money do you have? Let me see it now." On and on went the questions until I got more and more confused. Suddenly I was handed a landing card. It was hard to believe the ordeal was over in an afternoon. My fears were unfounded, the statue in the harbor had not turned her back on me. America had accepted me."

The island is empty, of immigrants now and it may be hard to imagine their laughter and tears echoing throughout the buildings. By listening hard, however, we may (with a bit of imagination…) still hear the sound of the many languages they spoke decades ago on the "Island of Tears."

HEALTH

US Public Health Service doctors looked for "loathsome diseases" - tuberculosis, measles, etc.

Entry was barred if trachoma, a highly contagious eye infection that can cause blindness, was diagnosed. Another category to be weeded out: "persons likely to become a public charge."

Eighty percent of the immigrants passed health and legal inspection in a day. The twenty per cent who failed immediate clearance were subject to detention and given a card. Detention could last for weeks, sometimes months. Detention expenses for an Ellis Island stay were paid by the steamship companies, which were also responsible for the return passage-free of charge- for the 2% who failed the examination process.

In 1902 a medical complex of 15 buildings - a 275-bed hospital, contagious wards for 450, X-ray facilities, laboratories, a morgue - was spread across Ellis Island. From 1900 to 1954, 355 births and 3500 deaths (1400 of children) were recorded.

IMMIGRATION LAWS

Until the 1850's, immigration was unrestricted, with 90% of all immigrants coming from Europe. In the 1920's, a number of measures were taken to limit immigration, especially from Asian countries and southern and eastern Europe. The overall number of immigrants was limited by laws and quotas were set for countries, for instance no Asians or Mexicans were allowed. The 1924 quota law was abolished in 1965. The US Immigration Act of 1990 whose provision was to begin in October 1991 increases the number of immigrants permitted to enter the country and opens wider doors for Europeans and skilled workers. It raises the overall number of the new arrivals to 700,000 before setting down to 675,000 from 1995.

THE STATUE OF LIBERTY

The Statue of Liberty was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi (who had originally planned it as a beacon/lighthouse) as a gift from the people of France to memorialise (or commemorate) the alliance of the two countries in the American Revolution (War of Independence).

The sonnet ("The New Colossus") that is synonymous with the statue was penned in 1883 by Emma Lazarus, a scholarly member of a wealthy New York Jewish family: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free," wrote Lazarus to help raise funds for the pedestal. This poem, placed on a plaque which holds a place of honor in the statue's museum, identified Liberty as "Mother of Exiles".

President Grover Cleveland accepted the statue for the United States on Oct. 28, 1886. Miss Liberty ("Liberty Enlightening the World") is a steel-reinforced copper female figure facing the ocean from Liberty Island in New York Harbor. The right hand holds aloft a torch, and the left hand carries a tablet upon which is inscribed : "July IV, MDC CLXXVI" (The date July 4, 1776 is Independence Day). Its classical costume suggests stability and tradition. The crown has seven points symbolizing not only light rays but also the seven Continents which the statue seems to gather around the torch she is holding. This torch stands for the desire to spread republican values all over the world. The general impression conveyed is one of dignity, nobility and majesty.

This statue is now considered a symbol of the USA. It is regarded as an emblem of patriotic pride. Its stands for America's positive values. As well as being a symbol, it's also a monument which attracts millions of tourists every year…

FILL THE GAPS WITH THE FOLLOWING WORDS:

from / six million / a sixth / nearly / millions / since / at / the 1980s / 1910 / Americas

When the flood of immigrants crested after the turn of the century, …………… .

80 percent of all newcomers entered the U.S. through New York. From 1900 to ……….. alone, ……………… of men, women, and children ……… Europe landed …………. the port of New York. Today most immigrants come from Asia and the ……………… . Besides, …………….. the 1960s numbers have risen again; in ………….. , about …………… legal immigrants arrived; …………… of them in New York.

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