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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
ELL_160914_078.JPG: The Word Tree
Follow the branches of the Word Tree to discover the origins of words in American English.
The rich stock of words and idioms in American English reflects the diversity of peoples who have called North America home. The language owes much of its variety and color to the great number of nationalities that English speaking people encountered in North America. Many words were consider English in origin come from other languages.
Some of the first "Americanisms" were Native American words, such as "raccoon" and "hickory," used by early European settlers to describe animals and plants they had never seen before. American English also includes many words introduced to English speakers by other ethnic groups residing in early America. The early Dutch settlers contributed "stoop" and "boss." Spanish speakers provided "lariat," "stampede," and "ranch," among others, and from French came "chowder" and "levee." Enslaved Africans brought such words a "banjo" and "okra."
Once English became the dominant language in the United States, immigrants to the country brought with them terms and concepts that the general American public incorporated into their everyday speech. Yiddish speaking Jews from Eastern Europe gave us such words as "klutz," "schlep," and "schmooze," and the Germans brought "delicatessen" and "pinochle." These cultural contributions to American English continue today as the United States still attracts immigrants from all over the world.
The Word Tree has been developed with the assistance of: The North American Editorial Unit of the Oxford English Dictionary.
ELL_160914_081.JPG: The Railroad Ticket Office:
This structure, added in 1905, housed the railroad ticket office. During the addition's construction, the original building's exterior limestone piers (near the entrance to this exhibit) were encased in terra cotta and plaster to create an interior wall. In addition, a ceiling with skylights was suspended beneath the steel trusses. The ceiling was removed ca 1925, leaving the trusswork exposed as it is today. During Ellis Island's restoration in the 1980s, the limestone piers were uncovered.
ELL_160914_097.JPG: Global Migration
200,000-65,000 Years Ago
65,000-25,000 Years Ago
ELL_160914_100.JPG: 25,000-13,000 Years Ago
Modern Era
ELL_160914_102.JPG: Moving Across Time and Continents:
Throughout history, humans have migrated from one place to another for many reasons -- in search of sustenance, freedom, or opportunity; fleeing war, oppression, or natural disaster; moving voluntarily or against their wills. For much of its history, the United States has been a principal (though not the only) destination for migrants. This dynamic, radiant globe shows the movements of people across time and continents -- from the pre-historic beginnings of modern humans' existence to our world today.
ELL_160914_108.JPG: The Peopling of America
The story of the Peopling of America is epic and complex. It spans thousands of years, contains an amazing diversity of characters, and takes place within a broad, global context.
It encompasses conquest, colonization, migration, enslavement, and annexation. It embraces those who settled here permanently as well as those who stayed for awhile, and then returned home.
We invite you to explore the Peopling of America in four exhibits:
* Global Migration
* Journeys: The Peopling of America, 1550-1890
* The Ellis Island Experience, 1892-1954
* Journeys: New Eras of Immigration, 1945 to the Present
ELL_160914_110.JPG: Conquest:
Despite the myth that North America lay "empty" and available for the taking, European explorers encountered over 200 different cultures whose ancestors had lived on this continent for thousands of years.
Through armed conflict, Europeans seized the land and claimed it for settlement. This often entailed enslaving, subjugating, or removing native peoples to reservations against their will. Disease was an unintended instrument of conquest -- millions of Native Americans died from foreign viruses to which they had no resistance.
ELL_160914_113.JPG: Colonization:
European nations colonized the Americas to exploit natural resources, engage in commerce, create new communities, and convert native peoples to Christianity.
Spain, France, Holland, England, and other European powers claimed different parts of what would become the United States. They battled one another as well as Native Americans to gain dominance and control trade and territory.
ELL_160914_117.JPG: Migration:
Beginning tens of thousands of years ago, people migrated to North America and the land that now makes up the United States. In the 16th century, new groups made the journey, coming from Europe, Africa, and Asia. Today, people continue to arrive in large numbers from every part of the globe.
Regardless of when they journeyed, they left their homelands as "emigrants" in search of new opportunities and freedoms. They arrived as "immigrants," who worked, struggled, and adapted to a new world.
ELL_160914_119.JPG: Enslavement:
European colonial powers enslaved more than ten million West Africans and transported them to the Americas and the Caribbean. Half a million enslaved people were brought to the United States.
Forcibly moved across continents to fill a ravenous hunger for labor, these men and women created the agricultural might of the nation. Their enslavement played a role in both building the nation and in tearing it apart.
ELL_160914_121.JPG: Annexation:
"Annexation" is the claiming of new territories by a government through the war, treaty, or purchase. The United States expanded its territory by annexing areas that had once belonged to other nations -- especially Native Americans, France, Spain, Russia, Mexico, and Hawaii. While the people who inhabited these annexed territories did not physically migrate, they still found themselves living in a new country and encountering new people and new challenges.
ELL_160914_125.JPG: This graph shows the immigration rates to the land now known as the United States from 1565 to 2010. Detailed statistics on immigration were not kept until the early 1800s.
ELL_160914_139.JPG: Ellis Island: From Gateway to Museum:
Over 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island, the nation's principal gateway during the years 1892-1954. Many Americans trace their ancestry to immigrants who crossed this island before dispersing to points all across the country.
Following the restoration in the 1980s, this building reopened as a museum dedicated to the nation's immigrant heritage. Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration chronicles Ellis Island's role in immigration history and now views it in the context of global migration and over four centuries of immigration to the United States.
The Baggage Room:
Once they disembarked from the ferries, immigrants crowded into this room where they could check their baggage. With thousands of people going through the inspection process every day, keeping track of immigrants' belongings became a major logistical challenge and lost baggage a common fear. Some immigrants chose to keep their possessions with them, lugging them through the entire inspection routine.
A private concession under government contract operated the baggage-handling service. After immigrants passed inspection, the could arrange with the concession to ship their baggage to a final destination at a fair cost. Immigration officers, however, sometimes discovered concession employees cheating immigrants, charging as much as twice the rate of commercial freight handlers.
ELL_160914_144.JPG: Building History
Stairway to Registry Room
As new arrivals entered the main building, they were assembled into a line that proceeded up the stairway to the Registry Room. There they were inspected by Ellis Island immigration officers. This stairway is a modern replacement for one that was built in 1911 and used by millions of immigrants until 1924 when it was torn down. Previous to that period the main stairway was located in the center of the room.
ELL_160914_150.JPG: Flag of Faces
ELL_160914_153.JPG: The Flag of Faces:
Made of thousands of photos submitted by people from all walks of life, the Flag of Faces is a powerful symbol of both unity and diversity. Just like the United States of America, the flag is ever-changing, as people of all ages, races, and backgrounds continue to add their photos.
Have you added your photo to the Flag of Faces?
Use the adjacent stations to search for your photo and display it on the Flag. To submit a photo, go to http://flagoffaces.org .
You, too, can become part of this rich American tapestry.
ELL_160914_165.JPG: It turns out I missed the entire "New Eras of Immigration" exhibit. Next time!
ELL_160914_177.JPG: The U.S. Public Health Service
During Ellis Island's peak years of immigration -- 1892 to 1924 -- the U.S. Public Health Service was responsible for the medical inspection and treatment of over 12 million immigrants.
The Hospital Buildings:
By 1911, more than 15 buildings on the island were devoted to medical care. The U.S. Public Health Service operated a 275-bed hospital and contagious disease wards with 450 beds. There were laboratories, operating rooms, an x-ray plant, a psychiatric ward, and a morgue. The staff of 40 doctors dealt with every kind of medical impairment, from slight injuries to rare tropical diseases. One observer said, "It is at once a maternity ward and an insane asylum."
Six-Second Specialists:
On Ellis Island, new arrivals formed a long line that wound its way up the stairs and into the Registry Room. U.S. Public Health Service doctors stationed on the stairs sometimes had only six seconds to scan each immigrant during the line inspection to detect those who should be held for a more thorough medical examination. Experienced doctors could recognize the signs of a wide variety of diseases and disabilities. In 1917, the U.S. Public Health Service printed a list of over 60 health conditions -- from anemia to varicose veins -- the doctors could spot during the brief line inspection.
ELL_160914_180.JPG: The Registry Room:
Nearly every day, for over two decades (1900-24), the Registry Room was filled with new arrivals waiting to be inspected and registered by Immigration Service officers. On many days, over 5,000 people would file through the space. For most immigrants, this great hall epitomized Ellis Island. Here they encountered the complex demands of the immigration laws and an American bureaucracy that could either grant or withhold permission to land in the United States.
The Registry Room has been restored to its appearance in 1918-24. Photographs of the room during other time periods can be seen on the east and west ends of the balcony.
ELL_160914_203.JPG: Registry Room Views:
Perhaps no other place in America conjures up as strong an image of the immigration experience as does this hall. The Registry Room on Ellis Island marked a great divide in the lives of millions of immigrants who had completed one long journey and were about to undertake another. This was their first stop in America.
While the enormous arched windows evoked the spirit of America's 19th Century railroad stations -– the principal gateways of our cities -– the Registry Room's floor plan accommodated the practical business of inspecting and sending immigrant travelers on their various ways. Ellis Island officials periodically rearranged the floor plan to guide the flow of humanity more efficiently or, in later years, to serve other purposes. Iron piped alleys and wire cages gradually gave way to wooden benches and open spaces.
Here are five photographs taken from this end of the balcony, showing how the Registry Room changed over the years. For the opposite point of view, see a similar display of photographs on the other side of the balcony.
ELL_160914_205.JPG: ca 1907. Medical inspections were conducted at the top of the staircase. Benches in penned areas formed the legal inspection lines.
ELL_160914_207.JPG: ca 1912. Wooden benches, placed in long lines across the floor, replaced the penned areas seen in the previous photo.
ELL_160914_209.JPG: 1916. With fewer immigrants arriving during World War I, it was possible to provide detainees with entertainment, such as this Ukrainian concert.
ELL_160914_211.JPG: ca 1918. During the time the U.S. Army controlled the main building in 1918-19, the room served as a hospital ward for soldiers.
ELL_160914_217.JPG: 1971. The room during the period of abandonment after the closing of Ellis Island in 1954.
ELL_160914_229.JPG: A Memorial to Titanic's Dead, 15 April 1912 and to all who perished on their voyages to America. Their journey to the land of hope was stayed by death. They sleep in ocean depth, on alien shore,
Never to enter the Golden Door,
Never to wake from their
Dream of Freedom.
Presented by the Members of Titanic International, 29 June 1991.
ELL_160914_240.JPG: Building History
"Graffiti Columns"
These columns have been cleaned to the original plaster surface, revealing inscriptions left by immigrants detained here. Similar graffiti was found in other parts of this building during its restoration. Historic graffiti can also be seen in the "Through America's Gate" exhibit, located on the second floor.
ELL_160914_261.JPG: Building History
Third Floor Addition, 1915:
Registering the millions of immigrants who came to Ellis Island created enormous amounts of paperwork and records. In 1915, additional offices were constructed on the perimeter of the east wing's third floor, surrounding an earlier dormitory. This new space housed the statistical division which had outgrown its offices on the first floor. Meanwhile, the U.S. Public Health Service, also in need of more space, took over the vacated first-floor rooms.
ELL_160914_319.JPG: Building History
East Wing Light Court:
During the 1980s restoration, the corridor walls adjacent to two open air light courts were removed to create this large atrium. The brick walls with windows once opened onto the air shaft, while the white-tiled walls lines the inside of the corridor. The black granite band on the floor shows the outline of the walls that were removed.
The present copper cornices are replicas of the originals, which had to be replaced because they were so deteriorated. The more elaborate cornice marks the edge of the original 1900 building, while the plain cornice tops the later addition constructed in 1915.
ELL_160914_324.JPG: The Registry Room:
Nearly every day, for over two decades (1900-24), the Registry Room was filled with new arrivals waiting to be inspected and registered by Immigration Service officers. On many days, over 5,000 people would file through the space. For most immigrants, this great hall epitomized Ellis Island. Here they encountered the complex demands of hte immigration laws and an American bureaucracy that could either grant or withhold permission to land in the United States.
The Registry Room has been restored to its appearance in 1918-24. Photographs of the room during other time periods can be seen on the east and west ends of the balcony.
ELL_160914_436.JPG: Variation on the previous picture. Drugs... We need drugs...
AAA "Gem": AAA considers this location to be a "must see" point of interest. To see pictures of other areas that AAA considers to be Gems, click here.
Wikipedia Description: Ellis Island
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ellis Island, at the mouth of the New York Harbor, was at one time the main entry facility for immigrants entering the United States from January 1, 1892 until November 12, 1954. It is wholly in the possession of the Federal government as a part of Statue of Liberty National Monument and is under the jurisdiction of the US National Park Service. It is situated in New York City and Jersey City, New Jersey.
Ellis Island was the subject of a border dispute between New York State and New Jersey (see below). According to the United States Census Bureau, the island, which was largely artificially created through the landfill process, has an official land area of 129,619 square meters, or 32 acres, more than 83 percent of which lies in the city of Jersey City. The natural portion of the island, lying in New York City, is 21,458 square meters (5.3 acres), and is completely surrounded by the artificially created portion. For New York State tax purposes it is assessed as Manhattan Block 1, Lot 201. Since 1998, it also has a tax number assigned by the state of New Jersey.
Bigger photos? To save server space, the full-sized versions of these images have either not been loaded to the server or have been removed from the server. (Only some pages are loaded with full-sized images and those usually get removed after three months.)
I still have them though. If you want me to email them to you, please send an email to guthrie.bruce@gmail.com
and I can email them to you, or, depending on the number of images, just repost the page again will the full-sized images.
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