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Immigrants |
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America is not a nation of one culture, ethnic group, race or nationality. No one but the Native Americans can claim this country as their place or origin. Many American families can trace their roots to New York City and the Ellis Island immigration center. Our first encounter with New York City was only one day, so after Thanksgiving in Ohio with family, we returned to the Big Apple for several days of exploration. Since we were staying in New Jersey, we drove to Staten Island and rode the ferry into Manhattan--four times! This gave us many opportunities to see the Statue of Liberty in all kinds of weather and times of day. It is quite a piece of workmanship. We know why the thousands of immigrants who entered the country in New York were inspired by this icon of Americanism. Our history studies came alive as we spent a day at Ellis and Liberty Islands and learned about the experience of 12 million people that entered America through New York from 1892 to 1954. |
) "Ellis
Island is where people around the world were examined the took test
to get into America. They changed names like Nochomavsky to names like Levine,
which would have been confusing. Even though only 2% of all immigrants were
deported, just about all of them were scared. That's why they called it
the Island of Tears."--Harrison |
If
Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island |
) "These
beds are what the immigrants slept on, sometimes for many days, while waiting
to pass immigration. They would have to wait if they were sick to see if
they would get better in the hospital. Other reasons were more tests if
they thought you were crazy or not very smart, or waiting for trials to
decide if you had committed a crime in your country, or to see if you were
able to work to support yourself."--Amanda |
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) Harrison
thought this display was cool. "This is a double-sided picture of
the American flag and faces of immigrants. If you stand to the left, all
you see is the flag. As you move to the right, hundreds of faces of real
immigrants appear. It's kind of like 2000 Faces of America--the name of
our trip." |
Immigrant
Kids |
) Amanda
contemplates what the immigrants may have thought: "Lots of immigrants
sat on benches like this, waiting to be checked to see if they could go
into New York. If they couldn't, they had to go back to their home land
on the ship that brought them. People would probably have been very scared,
wondering if they'd have to go home to nothing, or stay in this weird, new
place." |
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On our first day in New York City, we went to Battery Park, where the ferries would bring immigrants. We sort of felt like immigrants ourselves, in a strange new place. |
Dreams
in the Golden Country : The Diary of Zipporah Feldman, a Jewish Immigrant
Girl |
) The
timing of our visit to The Lower East Side Tenement Museum wasn't
great. The size of the living quarters is small, so group size is quite
limited. We opted not to wait for a tour, but took advantage of the free
videos shown in the waiting area. They showed a lot of what we would have
seen on the tour, so we felt we got a taste of what the immigrants experienced
living in substandard conditions. |
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) We
felt like no visit to New York City would be complete without going to the
top of the Empire State Building, so we got in line and stood for 45 minutes
(and that was with pre-purchased tickets!) The view was cool, and the wind
was cold, and we can now say we were there. But in hindsight, having already
been to the top of World Trade Center 2, we could have survived just fine
without it. |
New
York City (Cities of the World)
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 Recommend
a Face |
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"Give
me your tired your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send them, the homeless,
tempest-tost to me: I lift my light beside the golden door!" --Emma
Lazarus, "The New Colossus", 1886
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Home
Child
American
Dreaming : Immigrant Life on the Margins
American
Mosaic : The Immigrant Experience in the Words of Those Who Lived
It