ELLIS ISLAND
The Origin of the Island
From
1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants entered the United States
through the portal of Ellis Island, a small island in New York Harbor.
Ellis Island is located in the upper bay just off the New Jersey coast,
within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. Through the years, this
gateway to the new world was enlarged from its original 3.3 acres to
27.5 acres mostly by landfill obtained from ship ballast and possibly
excess earth from the construction of the New York City subway system.
Before being designated as the site of the first Federal immigration station by President Benjamin Harrison in 1890, Ellis Island had a varied history. The local Indian tribes had called it "Kioshk" or Gull Island. Due to its rich and abundant oyster beds and plentiful and profitable shad runs, it was known as Oyster Island for many generations during the Dutch and English colonial periods.
By
the time Samuel Ellis became the island's private owner in the 1770s,
the island had been called Kioshk, Oyster, Dyre, Bucking and Anderson's
Island. In this way, Ellis Island developed from a sandy island that
barely rose above the high tide mark, into a hanging site for pirates, a
harbor fort, ammunition and ordinance depot named Fort Gibson, and
finally into an immigration station.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF EVENTS :
1630
The
Colonial governors of Nieuw Amsterdam purchased a small, 3.5-acre mud
bank in Upper New York Bay, near the New Jersey shore. The Indians
called it Kioshk, or Gull Island, after the birds that were its only
inhabitants. The Dutch settlers called it Oyster Island, after the many
surrounding oyster beds. The Island barely rose above the surface at
high tide.
|
 | 1776
By the time of the American Revolution, the Island was owned by Samuel Ellis, a New York merchant and owner of a small tavern on the island catering to fisherman.
|
 | 1808
Samuel Ellis's
heirs sold the island to New York State. The name Ellis Island stuck.
Later in the year, the Federal Government bought Ellis Island for
$10,000.
|
| 1812
Shortly before the War of 1812, a battery of 20 guns, a magazine and a barracks were constructed on the island.
|  |
 | 1890
The States
turned over control of immigration to the Federal Government. The U.S.
Congress appropriated $75,000 to build the first Federal immigration
station on Ellis Island. Artesian wells were dug, and landfill (from
incoming ships' ballast and New York City subway tunnels) doubled the
size of Ellis to over six acres. While the new immigration station was
under construction, the Barge Office on the Battery on the tip of
Manhattan was used for immigration reception. During 1891, there were
405,664 immigrants, or about 80% of the national total, that were
processed at the Barge Office.
|
| 1892
The first Ellis
Island Immigration Station was officially opened. The first immigrant
to pass through Ellis was a "rosy-cheeked Irish girl," Annie Moore, a
teenager from County Cork. She came with her two younger brothers to
join their parents in New York City. That first day, three large ships
were waiting to land, and 700 immigrants passed through Ellis Island. In
the first year, nearly 450,000 immigrants passed through the Island.
|  |
 | 1897
A fire of
undisclosed origin, possibly faulty wiring, completely destroyed the
Georgia pine structures on Ellis Island. No one died, but most of the
immigration records dating from 1855 were destroyed. In five years, some
1.5 million immigrants had been processed. While a new, fireproof
immigration station was being constructed on Ellis, processing was
transferred back to the Barge Office.
|
 | 1900
The present
Main Building opened, an impressive, French Renaissance structure in red
brick with limestone trim. It cost some $1.5 million and was designed
to process 5,000 immigrants per day. This was scarcely big enough for
the surge in immigration in the pre-World War I years. The island was
continuously enlarged with landfill, remodeling, additions and new
construction.
|
| 1907
This was the
peak year at Ellis Island with 1,004,756 immigrants received. The
all-time daily high was on April 17th of this year when a total of
11,747 immigrants were processed.
|  |
 | 1921
Post-war
immigration quickly revived and 560,971 immigrants passed through Ellis
Island in 1921. The first Immigration Quota Law passed the U.S.
Congress, adding to the administration problems at Ellis Island. It
provided that the number of any European nationality entering in a given
year could not exceed three percent of foreign-born persons of that
nationality who lived in the U.S. in 1910. Nationality was to be
determined by country of birth, and no more than 20 percent of the
annual quota of any nationality could be received in any given month.
The total number of immigrants admissible under the system was set at
nearly 358,000, but numerous classes were exempt.
|
| 1924
The Immigration
Act of 1924 further restricted immigration, changing the quota basis
from the census of 1910 to that of 1890, and reducing the annual quota
to some 164,000. This marked the end of mass immigration to America. The
Immigration Act also provided for the examination and qualification of
immigrants at U.S. consulates overseas. The main function of Ellis
Island changed from that of an immigrant processing station, to a center
of the assembly, detention, and deportation of aliens who had entered
the U.S. illegally or had violated the terms of admittance. The
buildings at Ellis Island began to fall into disuse and disrepair.
|  |
 | 1938-1945
After the U.S.
entered the war in December 1941, Ellis Island served primarily as a
detention center for alien enemies, those considered to be inadmissible
and others. By 1946, approximately 7000 aliens and citizens, with
German, Italian, and Japanese people comprising the largest groups, were
detained at Ellis Island. The detainees became so numerous that the
immigration functions had to be transferred to Manhattan for lack of
room. Ellis Island was also used as a hospital for returning wounded
servicemen and by the United States Coast Guard, which trained about
60,000 servicemen there.
|
| 1950
A brief flurry
of activity occurred on Ellis Island after the passage of the Internal
Security Act of 1950, which excluded arriving aliens who had been
members of Communist and Fascist organizations. Remodeling and repairs
were performed on the buildings to accommodate detainees who numbered as
many as 1,500 at one time.
|  |
 | 1954
Ellis Island, with its 33 structures, was closed and declared excess Federal property.
|
| 1965
President
Lyndon B. Johnson issued Proclamation 3656 adding Ellis Island to the
Statue of Liberty National Monument, thus placing Ellis Island under the
jurisdiction of the National Park Service.
|  |
 | 1984
The largest
restoration in American history was undertaken by the non-profit Statue
of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., established in 1982 and
chaired by Lee A. Iacocca, which raised all the funds from private
citizens, corporations, and other groups and oversaw the restoration,
working in partnership the National Park Service.
|
| 1990
The Ellis
Island Immigration Museum opened to the public and has received over 40
million visitors to date. Also unveiled was The American Immigrant Wall
of Honor®, the largest wall of names in the world, where individuals can
have the name of an immigrant ancestor inscribed for posterity.
|  |
 | 2001
The American
Family Immigration History Center® was opened by The Statue of
Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, which allows visitors to the Center and
its website to explore the extraordinary collection of records of the
more than 25 million passengers and members of ships’ crews who entered
the United States through Ellis Island and the Port of New York between
1892 and 1924.
|
| 2011
Journeys: The
Peopling of America® Center, 1550 - 1890 the first phase of a major
expansion of the Ellis Island Immigration Museum which explores arrivals
before the Ellis Island Era, is opened by The Statue of Liberty-Ellis
Island Foundation. Located in the historic Railroad Ticket Office, this
exhibit highlights global reasons for immigration, describes both
voluntary and involuntary forms of immigration, and underscores some of
the historical debates and discussions about immigration in America.
|  |
 | 2015
The
second phase of The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation’s
Peopling of America® Center, which was delayed due to the damage
sustained by Ellis Island from Superstorm Sandy, is scheduled to open.
It will tell the story of arrivals to America in the post-Ellis Island
era (1955-Present).
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