WHY ELLIS ISLAND WAS THE GATEWAY TO AMERICA

This may be hard to believe but it’s true:  9 percent of the population of Norway relocated to the United States during the 1880’s. And that was just the beginning. Another 27 million immigrants arrived on our shores between 1890 and 1930, most in search of a new life and a brighter future. For about 20 million of these courageous passengers, Ellis Island was their first stop. This is the reason why 40% of all Americans alive today have at least one ancestor who entered this country through that 27.5-acre portal in New York Harbor know as the "Gateway to America."

Way back, the local Indians called it "Kioshk’ or Gull Island but, later, it was known as Oyster, Dyre, Bucking and Anderson’s Island by the Dutch and English colonialist who replaced them. When Samuel Ellis bought it in 1770, only 3-acres was visible at high tide. Still, the Federal government purchased it from New York State in 1808 and by the start of the War of 1812, it was a major component of the defense system that encircled New York Harbor. The battery of cannon on Ellis Island, the other fortresses on Governor’s Island, at Battery Park, and on Bedloe’s Island, plus two more installations on the Varrazano Narrows at the entrance to the harbor, proved to be an impenetrable guantlet. With the help of landfill development, the size of Ellis Island has grown to 27.5-acres. Also, today, Bedloe’s Island is called Liberty Island and is the home of the Statue of Liberty.

The processing of legal immigrants used to be the responsibility of each individual state and in New York the task was accomplished at Castle Garden in Battery Park at the southern most tip of New York City. In 1890, however, President Benjamin Harrison designated Ellis Island as the first Federal immigration station in the country. As a result, a newly constructed facility began to process immigrants on the first day of January in 1892. Fifteen-year-old Annie Moore became the first new immigrant to be processed on Ellis Island. Five years later, in 1897, a fire leveled the entire wooden structure and destroyed priceless records dating back as far as 1855. Three and a half years later, on December 17, 1900, processing in a new main building resumed without further interruption until the outbreak of World War I.

After the war, immigration screening shifted from the home front to the many new US embassies being opened worldwide. Immigrants could now apply for visas and medical testing at US consulates in the countries in which they resided. So, by the end of 1924, Ellis Island was only used to house war refugees, displaced persons, or immigrants with document irregularities. In fact, the last person detained on Ellis Island was Arne Peterssen, a Norwegian seaman. Following his release in November 1954, the facility was officially closed.

During 62 years of operation, Ellis   Island, along with the ports of San Francisco, New Orleans, Miami, Savannah, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston, processed more than 27 million arriving immigrants while denying entry to only 2%. Nearly 1.25 million immigrants were processed in 1907 alone, more than in any other year in the history of the USA.

When President Lyndon Johnson merged Ellis Island with the nearby Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965, Ellis Island was to enter a new era, to embark on new mission. During the years that followed, almost all public access to the island was limited. Then, in 1984, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, with the cooperation of the National Park Service, requested donations from mainstream and corporate America to fund a $160 million dollar project that was to become the largest historic restoration in the history of the United States. When renovations were completed six years later, the main building reopened as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. It has been attracting 2 million visitors a year ever since. The huge success of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum is a remarkable testimonial from Americans who, as they venture into the future, are still looking to recall their past.

One of the outstanding features of the Museum is The American Immigrant Wall of Honor with over 700,000 names nominated by friends and families of immigrants who shared the Ellis Island experience. Another remarkable event this year is the Ellis Island Living Theater with its frequent performances of "Taking a Chance on America: Bela Lugosi’s Ellis Island Story." This 30-minute production, written by playwright and screenwriter Aurorae Khoo, focuses on the Ellis Island experiences of famed actor Bela Lugosi as it depicts the Ellis Island inspection process.

The most acclaimed resource at the museum, however, is the American Family Immigration History Center with public access to the names of 22 million immigrants, crew members and other passengers who arrived in New York between 1892 and 1924. Finding the name of an ancestor is as easy as 1-2-3:

1. Use your home computer or one of the terminals at the museum to access www.ellisisland.org.
2. Enter your ancestor’s first name (optional), last name, approximate date of birth, and gender.
3. Click START SEARCH.

Then relish the rush of emotion as you read details about your ancestors from ship passenger records, as you view images of the actual ships’ passenger manifests, as you absorb pictures and the histories of the vessels on which they arrived. You can even add your own notes to the record or read those left by others. This amazing interactive experience can be as profound and rewarding for those who knew their forebears as it can be for those who wish they had.

Next time you are in New York, take a day trip to see the Statue of Liberty and the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Two fantastic adventures into the past, both with the same ferry ticket.