Hope and Tears: Ellis Island Voices

Read this excerpt from Immigrant Kids, by Russell Freedman.

"Most of these immigrants were poor. Somehow they managed to scrape together enough money to pay for their passage to America. Many immigrant families arrived penniless. Others had to make the journey in stages. Often the father came first, found work, and sent for his family later."

The purpose of this excerpt is to help readers understand

• the homesickness immigrants felt.

• the health challenges immigrants faced.

• the immigrants’ struggle to make a living.

• the language confusion of immigrants.

Read this excerpt from Immigrant Kids, by Russell Freedman.

But the journey was not yet over. Before they could be admitted to the United States, immigrants had to pass through Ellis Island, which became the nation's chief immigrant processing center in 1892. There they would be questioned and examined. Those who could not pass all the exams would be detained; some would be sent back to Europe. And so their arrival in America was filled with great anxiety. Among the immigrants, Ellis Island was known as "Heartbreak Island."

The purpose of this excerpt is to help readers understand the importance of -

• Ellis Island.

• taking exams

• the time period.

• the United States.

Read this excerpt from Immigrant Kids, by Russell Freedman.

"Edward Corsi, who later became United States Commissioner of Immigration, was a ten-year-old Italian immigrant when he sailed into New York harbor in 1907:

"My first impressions of the New World will always remain etched in my memory, particularly that hazy October morning when I first saw Ellis Island. The steamer Florida, fourteen days out of Naples, filled to capacity with 1600 natives of Italy, had weathered one of the worst storms in our captain's memory; and glad we were, both children and grown-ups, to leave the open sea and come at last through the Narrows into the Bay.

My mother, my stepfather, my brother Giuseppe, and my two sisters, Liberta and Helvetia, all of us together, happy that we had come through the storm safely, clustered on the foredeck for fear of separation and looked with wonder on this miraculous land of our dreams."..."

The purpose of this excerpt is to help readers understand -

• that the Narrows into the Bay was a very dangerous passage.

• that Italian children were very sad after leaving their home country.

• the weather the immigrants experienced on that day in October 1907.

• the excitement and relief immigrants felt upon arriving in America.

Read this excerpt from Immigrant Kids.

"Now the examinations began. First the immigrants were examined by two doctors of the United States Health Service. One doctor looked for physical and mental abnormalities. When a case aroused suspicion, the immigrant received a chalk mark on the right shoulder for further inspection, L for lameness, H for heart, X for mental defects, and so on."

The purpose of this excerpt is to describe

• the immigrants who went through the medical exams.

• the health procedures that were part of immigration.

• the physical and mental illnesses suffered by immigrants.

• the doctors who worked for the United States Health Service.

Read this excerpt from Immigrant Kids.

"The second doctor watched for contagious and infectious diseases. He looked especially for infections of the scalp and at the eyelids for symptoms of trachoma, a blinding disease. Since trachoma caused more than half of all medical detentions, this doctor was greatly feared. He stood directly in the immigrant's path. With a swift movement, he would grab the immigrant's eyelid, pull it up, and peer beneath it. If all was well, the immigrant was passed on."

The purpose of this excerpt is -

• to provide information about scalp infections and to explain how they can be prevented.

• to provide information about eye doctors and to explain how they traveled the immigrant’s path.

• to provide information about eye disease and to explain its medical treatment.

• to provide information about trachoma and to explain how it was diagnosed among immigrants.

Read this excerpt from Immigrant Kids.

"The writer Angelo Pellegrini has recalled his own family's detention at Ellis Island:

"We lived there for three days -- Mother and we five children, the youngest of whom was three years old. Because of the rigorous physical examination that we had to submit to, particularly of the eyes, there was this terrible anxiety that one of us might be rejected. And if one of us was, what would the rest of the family do?"..."

The purpose of this excerpt is to -

• to describe the physical examination experienced by an immigrant family.

• to explain the day-to-day schedule experienced by an immigrant family.

• to describe the fond memories experienced by an immigrant family.

• to explain the feelings of worry experienced by an immigrant family.

Read this excerpt from Immigrant Kids.

"Giuseppe and I held tightly to Stepfather's hands, while Liberta and Helvetia clung to Mother. Passengers all about us were crowding against the rail. Jabbered conversations, sharp cries, laughs and cheers -- a steadily rising din filled the air. Mothers and fathers lifted up babies so that they too could see, off to the left, the Statue of Liberty."

What best paraphrases the central idea of the excerpt?

• It was noisy on the ship sailing to America. Immigrant parents and children made a lot of noise, especially when they got to the Statue of Liberty.

• Immigrant families sailing to America were excited when they finally made it to the New York harbor. Everyone on board made happy noise as they reached the United States.

• Everyone on board the ship was fighting to see the Statue of Liberty. Babies and mothers and fathers all cried because they couldn’t see it, because it was off to the left.

• Immigrant children had to hold tightly to their parents’ hands. There was so much crowding and jostling on board the ship. If they didn’t stay close to their parents, they would fall off the boat.

Read the excerpt from Immigrant Kids, and then answer the question.

"In the years around the turn of the century, immigration to America reached an all-time high. Between 1880 and 1920, 23 million immigrants arrived in the United States. They came mainly from the countries of Europe, especially from impoverished towns and villages in southern and eastern Europe. The one thing they had in common was a fervent belief that in America, life would be better."

What best paraphrases the central idea of the excerpt?

• Many people came to settle in the United States at the beginning of the last century. Most of them came to escape poverty in Europe and start a new life.

• There were 23 million people who came to the United States in the years between 1880 until 1920. That is almost 800,000 people every year.

• The immigrants to America were from southern countries and eastern countries in Europe. People in those countries believed in America.

• Immigrants are people who come to one country from another. They usually come from southern and eastern Europe.

Read the excerpt from Immigrant Kids, and then answer the question.

"The officers of the ship . . . went striding up and down the decks shouting orders and directions and driving the immigrants before them. Scowling and gesturing, they pushed and pulled the passengers, herding us into separate groups as though we were animals."

What best paraphrases the central idea of the excerpt?

• Immigrant passengers went striding around and scowling.

• The ship's officers got pushed, pulled, and herded on the ships.

• Passengers aboard the immigrant ships were often treated poorly.

• Officers on the immigrant ships thought the passengers were animals.

Read the excerpt from Immigrant Kids, and then answer the question.

"Those who failed to get past both doctors had to undergo a more thorough medical exam. The others moved on to the registration clerk, who questioned them with the aid of an interpreter: What is your name? Your nationality? Your occupation? Can you read and write? Have you ever been in prison? How much money do you have with you? Where are you going?

Some immigrants were so flustered that they could not answer. They were allowed to sit and rest and try again."

What best paraphrases the central idea of the excerpt?

• What is your name? What is your job? are examples of questions the immigrants answered.

• Medical exams were frightening to the newcomers, so they had to sit down.

• If they had ever been in a prison, the immigrants were not allowed to stay in America.

• Immigrants were asked many questions before being allowed into the United States.