Ellis Island is located in Upper new york bay. It is known to be the getaway for over 12 million immigrants to the US. What we see now as the Ellis Island is the expanded version of the original land. The original land proudly held Fort Gibson and a naval magazine as it’s major components.
What is the significance of the Ellis Island?
From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States of America through the portal of this magnificent island. At that time it was a small island in new york harbor. A fact about the Ellis Island which often becomes a confused question is that which state does the Ellis island belong to? The answer is that the Ellis Island belongs within the territorial jurisdiction of both new york and New Jersey. It really depends upon where you are. On an average, one million immigrants arrived at Ellis island per year in the United States. The immigrants were thoroughly reviewed as well. Today about 100 million Americans, about 40% of the population of the united states can trace their ancestry to immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island. These immigrants then spread out to various locations in the country.
Immigration
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country. The people or the immigrants are not natives of this country. These people cannot possess citizenship, especially as permanent residents.
The immigration act of 1924 restricted the number of immigrants to enter the Ellis Island. But it is a recorded fact that migration is beneficial for both the receiving and sending countries.
America has always been a nation of immigrants, starting with its original inhabitants, who crossed the land bridge connecting Asia to North America thousands of years ago.
Why did immigrants come to the United States of America?
In the early times, some of the original settlers came in search of freedom to practice their faith. A larger share of immigrants came to America seeking economic opportunities. However, because the price of passage was steep, an estimated one-half or more of the white Europeans who made the voyage did so by becoming indentured servants
About 2% of the immigrants were denied admission to the U.S. They were sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as having a chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity. Ellis Island was sometimes known as “The Island of Tears” or “Heartbreak Island” because of that 2 % who were not admitted after the long transatlantic voyage.
What are the Ellis Island records?
The Ellis Island Archive contains a list of passengers which includes more than 51 million immigrants, passengers, and crew members. These people came to Ellis Island from 1892 to 1957 for settling down in the United States of America. In the period from 1892 to 1924, the Ellis Island was the most significant human migration in history.
Ship manifests were the records kept by the ship companies of the list of passengers traveling on particular ships. These were used to examine the passengers upon arrival in the United States of America.
Where can the records be found?
The Ellis Island Foundation is the official site on which you can search and take a look at the passenger list which involves around 50 million names. The website has grown immensely since it’s starting days. It is now an excellent tool for information.
All you need to do is go on the official website and type the name of your ancestor. A list of passengers will appear. But to search about a particular passenger and to get details you have to register to the website.
You can also find various information on the website such as:
- Passenger List
- Ships Manifest
- Ship Information
- Annotations
- Text Passenger List
Ferry rides
This ride includes both a statue of liberty ferry ride and an Ellis island ferry ride. You can book these rides online. The cancellation must take place two days before the day when the ferry ride has to take place. You can save time and hassle by an early reserve line access to the Statue Ferry and to the Ellis Island as well. The passengers can also enjoy admission to the Statue of Liberty’s Pedestal and Museum. The ferry ride gives a tour of the Ellis Island Museum as well. You will be able to learn about the history of immigration.
Many packages allow you to have amazing privileges such as you can avoid the ticket lines, you can reserve timely access for the security line. You get to have round-trip ferry tickets, and you also get an entry ticket to the statue of liberty pedestal. You will also get a tour of the Ellis Island Museum. Such packages cost $40 to $50.
Ferry boats depart daily from New York City’s Battery Park on the southern tip of Manhattan and Liberty State Park in the Central Railroad Terminal of New Jersey. Sailing time to each island is approximately 15 minutes. If you remain on the boat for the ride only without visiting either monument, the time taken will be one hour and fifteen minutes. If you visit both islands the time, it takes for you to get back depends on the time you spend on both islands. There can be long waits which can cause delays.
There are many packages available for various prices; these can be found on websites like get your ride.
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
The Ellis Island Immigration Museum is a part of the Statue of Liberty national monument, and it is under the care of the national park service. In the museum, people can spend hours and hours learning about Ellis Island’s history. People can learn the use of this space before and after it was America’s immigration station.
The museum tells it’s own story, the walls and every single detail speaks for itself. Here the onlookers will get to know why so many people migrated to Australia and what happened to them after the migration.
You should make sure that you purchase your tickets beforehand.
What do you see in the museum?
The museum constitutes of three floors of exhibits documenting immigrants experiences at the Ellis Island. It also gives information about the history of the United States.
The first floor has the baggage room. It also displays journey of the immigrants. In addition to this, the museum has an information desk, bookstore, gift shop, etc.
Tours and tickets
Ellis Island is open every day of the year except December 25. The ferries run from 9:30 am to 3:30 pm with later departures in summer. You can stay on the island until the last ferry departs.
Ellis Island also hosts temporary exhibits. In those exhibits, you can see 30 wet collodion photographic prints of contemporary immigrant portraits. There is also a small glass house of immigrant portraits made from antique windows that Ellis Island visitors can enter and take a brief look at.
The tickets to the tours vary in prices according to the details or the places you can visit. The tours can come in combination with Manhattan tour as well; such tours are a little expensive. The tour tickets range from $20 to $100.
