AIM: What was the experience of the average immigrant to America in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries? Assignment: THIS IS A TEST! You must answer each question on your test sheet - BY YOURSELF. Any talking will be taken as cheating and will result in a “0”.

Located in New York Harbor, Ellis Island was the principal federal immigration station in the United States from 1892 to More than 12 million immigrants were processed here. Slide 1:

It is estimated that over 40 percent of all citizens can trace their ancestry to those who came through Ellis Island. Slide 2:

Immigrants were required to pass a series of medical and legal inspections before they could enter America. The actual experience of going through inspection or detainment on Ellis Island was often nerve wracking. Those who did not pass these inspections were returned to their country of origin on the boats that brought them here. Slide 3:

Even though only two percent of those coming to America were turned away at Ellis Island, that translated to over 250,000 people whose hopes and dreams turned to tears. Slide 4:

The Journey Immigrants sailed to America in hopes of carving out new destinies for themselves. Most were fleeing religious persecution, political oppression and economic hardship. Slide 5:

Thousands of people arrived daily in New York Harbor on steamships from mostly eastern and southern Europe. The first– and second–class passengers were allowed to pass inspection aboard ship and go directly ashore. Only steerage passengers had to take the ferry to Ellis Island for inspection. Slide 6:

However, for all of them the trip meant days and sometimes months aboard overcrowded ships often traveling through hazardous weather. Substandard food and sanitation conditions only compounded the misery for many who had become sick aboard these ships. Nevertheless, the promise of freedom and opportunity made even the most arduous trip worth it. Slide 7:

Processing Inspectors determined each newcomer’s eligibility to land according to United States law. For the vast majority of immigrants, Ellis Island meant three to five hours of waiting for a brief medical and legal examination. For others, it meant a longer stay with additional testing or a legal hearing. For an unfortunate two percent, it meant exclusion and a return trip to the homeland. Slide 8:

Ships dropped anchor outside the Narrows, where quarantine officers would come aboard to check for signs of epidemic diseases. If a ship was free of disease, doctors would then examine the first– and second–class passengers, most of whom were given permission to land as soon as the ship docked. Steerage-class passengers were ferried to Ellis Island for inspection. Slide 9:

Sometimes new arrivals had to wait aboard their ships for days before being transferred to Ellis Island. Once there, they were often confined to the overcrowded barges for hours without food or water, waiting for their turn to disembark for inspection. The barges, chartered by the steamship lines, lacked adequate toilets and lifesaving equipment; they were freezing cold in winter and unbearably hot in the summer Arrival Slide 10:

The medical inspection began as soon as the immigrants ascended the stairs to the Registry Room. U.S. Public Health Service Doctors stationed at the top of the stairs watched carefully for shortness of breath or signs of heart trouble as the immigrants climbed up the steps hefting their baggage. Medical Inspection Slide 11:

If a doctor found any indication of disease, he marked the shoulder or lapel of an immigrant’s clothing with chalk: “L” for lameness, “E” for eyes, for example. Marked immigrants, some of whom had received several of these mystifying letters, were removed from the inspection line and led to special examination rooms Lillian Galletta, who came from Sicily in 1928 at the age of four. Slide 12:

Many immigrant women were frightened by the clinical routine followed on Ellis Island. For a woman who had never been touched by a man other than her husband, being examined by a male doctor could be a traumatic experience. Slide 13:

Trachoma, a highly contagious eye infection that could cause blindness, was a common disease in southeastern Europe but relatively unknown in the United States. It appeared as inflammations on the inner eyelid. Doctors checked for the disease by raising the eyelid with either their fingers, a hairpin, or a buttonhook — a painful, but quick procedure. Slide 14:

During this primary examination, doctors first asked the immigrants to answer a few questions about themselves and then to solve simple arithmetic problems or count backward from 20 to 1 or complete a puzzle Mental Testing Slide 15:

After the medical inspection, each immigrant filed up to the inspector’s desk at the far end of the Registry Room for his or her legal examination, an experience that was often compared to the Day of Judgment. To determine an immigrant’s social, economic and moral fitness, inspectors asked a rapid-fire series of questions, such as: Are you married or single? What is your occupation? How much money do you have? Have you ever been convicted of a crime? After The interrogation which an immigrant was either permitted to enter the United States or detained for a legal hearing. Legal Inspection Slide 16:

What is Your Name?: Andrjuljawierjus, Grzyszczyszn, Koutsoghianopoulos and Zemiszkicivicz were a few of the names that Ellis Island inspectors had to decipher from handwritten manifests. The inspector’s prime task was to question new arrivals to verify information already recorded in the ships’ manifests; however, scores of immigrants contend that in the process their names were changed or simplified. Though these changes have never been verified, stories of immigrants receiving new names as they stood behind an inspector’s desk on Ellis Island are part of America’s oral tradition. Slide 17:

Literacy Test: Anti-immigration forces had been trying to impose a literacy test since the 1880s as a means of restricting immigration. They finally succeeded with the Immigration Act of 1917, passed over President Woodrow Wilson’s veto. This law required all immigrants 16 years or older to read a 40-word passage in their native language. These dual-language cards were used by inspectors to test immigrants’ literacy. Slide 18:

Liable to Become a Public Charge: Any immigrant deemed “liable to become a public charge” was denied entry to the United states. To Ellis Island inspectors, this clause, which has been a cornerstone of immigration policy since 1882, meant those who appeared unable to support themselves and, therefore, likely to become a burden on society. Slide 19:

Detention During the peak years of immigration, detention on Ellis Island ran as high as 20 percent for all immigrants inspected. A detainee’s stay could last days or even weeks. Slide 20:

Many were women and children who were waiting for a relative to come for them or for money to arrive. Others were waiting for a hearing in front of the board of special inquiry or for a final decision from Washington, D.C. Perhaps the most poignant of the detainees were the families waiting for a sick parent or child to be released from the Ellis Island hospital. Slide 21:

Free to Land After being inspected and receiving permission to leave the island, immigrants could make travel arrangements to their final destinations, get something to eat and exchange their money for American dollars. Relatives and friends who came to Ellis Island for joyous reunions — often after years of separation — could escort the immigrants to their new homes. Immigrants boarded ferries to New York and New Jersey and, at last, were free to land in America. Slide 22: