Ellis Island

Ellis Island

Mass migrations have marked the history of the human race ever since people began to dream of a better life

The issue of immigration is a hot potato these days.

Immigrants seem to be unwelcome in most countries nowadays but that hasn't always been the case.

Over a century ago, the USA welcomed immigrants looking for a better life in the USA. Ellis Island, the small island in New York Harbor was their first experience of the promised land. 

Multiple Choice

What is a "hot potato"?

• a potato right out of the oven

• a confusing situation

• an issue that people disagree strongly about

Open Ended

The USA is also referred to as..?

Εver since the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the United States has been a nation of immigrants. Ellis Island, almost in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty at the entrance to New York Harbor, was the first stop on American soil for some twelve million immigrants between the years 1892 and 1954. 

US officials examined the immigrants and decided if they were physically, mentally and legally fit to be allowed on actual US soil. For most, Ellis island was "a portal of hope and freedom"; for just a few, it was the "Island of Tears" as they were turned away for failing to meet the various immigration laws and requirements.

In the early 1920s, immigration declined sharply, as restrictive immigration laws were passed.  On November 12th 1954, the Ellis Island immigration station ceased operation.

Open Ended

Can you explain the phrase "Island of tears"?

For many of those who made it, passing through Ellis Island was not so much a matter of stepping into a new world.

It was stepping into a new life, a new character...

It's November 16th 1906. Franz and Ulrike Schumacher and their three children have just disembarked from the Hamburg-Amerika line steamship that has carried them across the stormy North Atlantic Ocean from Germany.

Like the thousands of other people milling around them, they are totally bewildered, caught up in a mixture of hope and apprehension, as they head towards a vast waiting room.

Multiple Choice

What do you think "bewildered" means?

• wilder than usual?

• very confused?

• very worried?

The room sounds like the Tower of Babel, for few of those in it speak a word of English. They speak German, Polish, Dutch, Hungarian, or Russian maybe, yet they have come, seeking a new life in a new world; and now they are on American soil for the first time. 

After interminable hours of waiting, the Schumacher family are finally called to a desk; immigration officials study their papers, and ask them where they intend to go.

The man who led his family through the door and onto the ferry was not Franz Schumacher any more.

He was Frank Shoemaker, even if he still didn't understand more than a couple of words of English.