Ellis Island Image Library

Books, brochures, articles, and other ephemera provided many photographs and Illustrations of the conditions and experiences of immigrants who chose to enter the United States via Ellis Island in New York from the late 1800s through World War I. Students and Family Historians are welcome to use these photographs to illustrate your reports and family histories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Registry Desk at Ellis Island. Drawing by G. W. Peters. Half-Tone Plate Engraved by W. Miller. The Century Magazine, March 1903. GGA Image ID # 1501218c24

 

The New York Detention Room at Ellis Island. Drawing by G. W. Peters. Half-Tone Plate Engraved by R. C. Collins. The Century Magazine, March 1903. GGA Image ID # 15014d6386

 

Immigrants Entering New York City. Drawing by G. W. Peters. The Century Magazine, March 1903. GGA Image ID # 1501757edf

 

President Roosevelt Visits Ellis Island, 16 September 1903. Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York Public Library. NYPL # 1693104. GGA Image ID # 14e7479d00

 

Receiving Room at Ellis Island, 1904. GGA Image ID # 14c8277fb9

 

Group of Immigrants at Ellis Island, 1904. GGA Image ID # 14c8d7a48d

 

Left: Croatian and Italian Immigrants. Right: Swedish Immigrants Arrive at Ellis Island Wearing the Immigrant ID Tag on their Outer Jacket. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14a8697483

 

Loading Up the Ellis Island Barges with Immigrants in New York. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14a90333dd

 

Rushing Immigrants onto Ellis Island Barges. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14a907ae9f

 

Inspectors and Immigrants at Ellis Island. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14a96ab2d5

 

Immigrants Heading to the Stairway of Separation at Ellis Island. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14a97202d9

 

Checking Into the Detention Pen at Ellis Island. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14a9e1fe60

 

Excluding the Elderly from Immigrating to the United States. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14a9ff02dd

 

Ellis Island Waiting Rooms for Friends of Incoming Immigrants at Ellis Island. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14a9ff72fb

 

The Immigrant's Track Through Ellis Island. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14aa242080

 

Mr. Broughton Brandenberg as He Passed Through Ellis Island. Broughton Brandenburg, Imported Americans 1904. GGA Image ID # 14aad722bc

 

Typical Immigrants at the Immigration Station at Ellis Island, New York. Blandt Udvandrede Nordmænd/Among Expatriate Norwegians, 1904. GGA Image ID # 14efcefcd4

 

Ellis Island Immigration Station, New York. Blandt Udvandrede Nordmænd/Among Expatriate Norwegians, 1904. GGA Image ID # 14f00b5836

 

Typical Immigrants at the Immigration Station at Ellis Island, New York. Blandt Udvandrede Nordmænd/Among Expatriate Norwegians, 1904. GGA Image ID # 14f0190885

 

Foreigners Arriving at the Immigration Station, Ellis Island, New York. Blandt Udvandrede Nordmænd/Among Expatriate Norwegians, 1904. GGA Image ID # 14f0303b95

 

Italian Immigrants Leaving The Office Of The Society For The Protection Of Italian Immigrants. Photograph by Rockwood. The World's Work, October 1904. GGA Image ID # 14f2b35e79

 

Italian Immigrants on the Roof of Ellis Island Building. The Boy in the Foreground, When Asked To Take a Loaf of Bread Out of His Pocket, Exclaimed, "No, I Came to This Country for Bread." Photograph by Rockwood, Courtesy of the Society for the Protection of Italian Immigrants. The World's Work, October 1904. GGA Image ID # 14f2c3c74b

 

A Slavic Immigrant Woman at Ellis Island in 1905. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. New York Public Library MFZ (Hine) 93-6226. NYPL 91PH056.008. GGA Image ID # 14e474ee48

 

Italian Family Looking For Lost Luggage at Ellis Island, 1905. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints, and Photographs: Photography Collection. New York Public Library. NYPL # 79878. GGA Image ID # 14e47f27fb

 

Slavic Mothers Newly Arrived at Ellis Island, 1905. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection. New York Public Library. NYPL # 79882. GGA Image ID # 14e6004cf6

 

Registration Room, Ellis Island, NYC. Photo Only Copyright © 1905 by the Rotograph Co. The Rotograph Co, NYC # A 88b. Printed in Germany. Postcard Postally Used 15 March 1908. GG Archives Immigration Postcard Collection. GGA Image ID # 14f580cdbe

 

A Family of Seven Sons and One Daughter at Ellis Island circa 1905. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection. New York Public Library. NYPL # 79883. GGA Image ID # 14e684017b

 

A Private Interview Between a Young Immigrant and an Ellis Island Official. Two Staff Members [?] are also Present. nd, circa 1905. Manuscrips and Archives Division, New York Public Library. NYPL # 1693107. GGA Image ID # 14e79e4a21

 

View of the Immigrant Landing Station at Ellis Island. © 24 February 1905 A. Loeffler, Tompkinsville, NY. Library of Congress # 97502077. GGA Image ID # 1484052975

 

Hon. Robert Watchorn, Commissioner of Immigration at Ellis Island. Dun's Review, International Edition, July 1905. GGA Image ID # 1464c05b41

 

Large Scottish Immigrant Family Arrived on the SS Caledonia at Ellis Island 17 September 1905. Typed Inscription at Top Reads: "John D. Third and family , natives of Scotland, Arrived[?] on SS Caledonia, September 17, 1905. Went to Friend, John Fleming, Anniston, Alabama." National Park Service # 658FC5DC. GGA Image ID # 1492e14c70

 

Government Building at Ellis Island, Just off the Battery in New York, Where Immigrants Land and Are Inspected and Checked Off; From Here Barges Convey Immigrants To Various Transportation Stations. System - A Monthly Magazine, October 1905. GGA Image ID # 14f200bb2e

 

U.S. Immigration Service Boat Which Carries Visitors to Eilis Island and Immigrants Free of Charge Between the Island and the Battery. System - A Monthly Magazine, October 1905. GGA Image ID # 14f2111fa6

 

Immigrants Just Arriving at Ellis Island—as They Look on Disembarking From the Steerage Quarters of the Ocean Liner, Carrying All Their Worldly Possessions With Them. System - A Monthly Magazine, October 1905. GGA Image ID # 14f22e48b8

 

Registration Room in Ellis Island, Where Immigrants Are Examined and Classified According to the Railroad or Steamship Stations to Which They Are to Be Sent to Continue Their Journey. System - A Monthly Magazine, October 1905. GGA Image ID # 14f237f59a

 

An Appeal from the Special Inqury Board to Commissioner Watchorn at Ellis Island. Aliens or Americans?, 1906. GGA Image ID # 1464cbebce

 

Immigrants on Deck of an Ocean Liner Just Before Landing in the United States. Lessons for Junior Citizens, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147b8ae873

 

The Inspectors Who Meet the Immigrants. Lessons for Junior Citizens, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147bd18886

 

Group of Newly Arrived Immigrants at Ellis Island. Lessons for Junior Citizens, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147be812de

 

Immigrant Children from Europe. Lessons for Junior Citizens, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147c6d49a4

 

Immigrants Paraded In Front of the Camera at Ellis Island. Lessons for Junior Citizens, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147cc7864f

 

Two Russian Immigrant Women. Lessons for Junior Citizens, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147d054afb

 

An Immigrant's First Photograph. Lessons for Junior Citizens, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147d548021

 

An Immigrant Under Inspection at Ellis Island. Lessons for Junior Citizens, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147d691c41

 

Immigrants at the Gate. With Tickets Fastened to Coats and Dresses, the Immigrants Pass Out Through the Gate To Enter Their New Inheritance and Become Our Fellow Citizens. From Stereograph. © 1904 Underwood & Underwood, NY. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147d7cba5d

 

Ellis Island, Main Building and Main Crib Wall, ca. 1904-1910. NARA II, RG 121,90-G 90-4. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 14956aa154

 

Immigrants Arriving in Barges at Ellis Island, Waiting To Be Admitted - 1905. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, New York Public Library. NYPL # 801533. GGA Image ID # 14ea8e139c

 

Immigrant Steerage Passengers on the Deck of an Ocean Liner as Seen by a Lady of the First Cabin. The Fellowship of the Steerage Makes Good Comrades, Where No Barriers Exist, and Introductions Are neither Possible nor Necessary. From Stereograph. © 1905 Underwood & Underwood, NY. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147dc1ee71

 

The Crowd Hurrying by Me, Into the Great Red Building Beyond -- The Gateway Into America. Everybody's Magazine, October 1906. GGA Image ID # 154740fd1a

 

The Great Examination Hall at Ellis Island Where Immigrants Wait, With Curiosity or Anxiety, the Decision That Shall Give Them Entrance to the New Home or Consign Them Again to the Old World Strife. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147dfc8e5f

 

Back to the Fatherland. Rejected Emigrants Awaiting Return to Their Country of Origin. Not Merely the Dangerous Elements Are Refused Admission, but Those Who, for Reasons of Ill Health of Mind or Body, or Inability to Work, Are Likely To Prove a Hindrance Rather Than a Help. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147e163152

 

Emigrants Say Farewell to Home and Friends as They Board the Steamship Bound for America. Close of Kin to Us Are the Scandinavians, Not Only in Race but in Thought and Ideals. More Than Any Other Element, They Blend Quickly and Thoroughly With Our National Life. From Stereograph. © 1905 Underwood & Underwood, NY. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147e52718d

 

Jewish Immigrants From Russia at Ellis Island. The Root of the Persecution of the Russian Jew Is Found in His Superior Ability To Cope With the Difficulties of Existence, in His Thrift and Shrewdness Which Knows No Bounds. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147e6e6549

 

Immigrants From Montenegro - The Black Mountain. [1] There Is No More Sturdy Stock in Europe Than the Slav of Montenegro, Some More Ready To Turn From Gun to Wood Axe, Form Blood-revenge to Citizenship. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147e702aa7

 

Group of Deported Servian Gypsies Without the Pale. Not Always Is the Adverse Decision of the Commissioner So Easy as in the Case of Some Servian Gypsies Who, Deported From New York, Found Their Way to Canada and Quickly Made Police Records. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147f13d6ca

 

Group of Romanian Immigrants Destined for the Prairie. From Romania to the Sheep Farms of the West Is a Long Journey. Those Who Make It Form a Most Useful Element in the Development of the Country. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147f1fe70f

 

Slovakian Immigrants, Sometimes Crude, Often Very Rough Human Material. To Mold Him Is the Problem, a Problem Too, Not So Difficult as Many Think. On the Trail of the Immigrant, 1906. GGA Image ID # 147fa9ca3b

 

Emigrants in "Pens" at Ellis Island, New York, Probably on or Near Christmas (Note the Decorations). Photograph Shows Room Filled With Immigrants Sitting in Numbered Pens. c1906 Underwood & Underwood. Library of Congress # 2012646352. GGA Image ID # 1483f97a23

 

Immigration Office at Ellis Island, Through Which a Million Aliens a Year Enter America. A Unique Perspective as This Photograph Is a Side View of the Main Building. It Includes Several of the Out Buildings on the Surrounding Islands. The Search-Light, 28 April 1906. GGA Image ID # 14d7b98783

 

Ellis Island Immigrant Station -- One of the Small Barges in the Foreground. Commercial America, July 1906. GGA Image ID # 14f3d6a3a6

 

Immigrants Walking From the Barge Landing to the Main Building at the Ellis Island Immigrant Station. Commercial America, July 1906. GGA Image ID # 14f42a4a6e

 

Immigrants Getting Railroad Tickets at Ellis Island. Commercial America, July 1906. GGA Image ID # 14f43ff8eb

 

Immigrants Pass Through the Barge Office Gate. Commercial America, July 1906. GGA Image ID # 14f45b928e

 

Physicians at Ellis Island Examine Group of Jewish Immigrants. Photograph Shows Immigrants Gathered in Small Room, Two With Shirts off Being Examined by Physicians; Eye Chart Written in Hebrew Hangs on Wall. Underwood & Underwood ca 1907. GGA Image ID # 14837b0981

 

A Bearded Immigrant Appearing Before a Board of Inquiry at Ellis Island. The Board of Inquiry Determines if a Prospective Immigrant Can Remain in the Country. Photograph by Edwin Levick ca 1907. NYPL # 1693106. GGA Image ID # 14f49b3580

 

Young Slavic Immigrant Woman at Ellis Island, 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9fefcff0

 

Recently Arrived Immigrants at Ellis Island. Photograph Shows a Large Crowd of Newly Arrived Emigrants Gathered Outside Main Building. 1907 Photo by Underwood & Underwood. Library of Congress # 2012646347. GGA Image ID # 1483ae3972

 

Immigrants Arriving at Ellis Island in 1907. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 97519082. GGA Image ID # 14859ef80d

 

View of Island Two from Island One, 1907. NARA II, RG I21, 90-G-90-27. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 149701bc43

 

Some of the Baltic's Boatload of 1,000 Marriageable Girls Looking Down From the Railing on the White Star Liner. 1907 George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704440. GGA Image ID # 148815fc2e

 

One of the 1,000 Marriageable Girls on the RMS Baltic Destined for Ellis Island. 1907 George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704430. GGA Image ID # 14883902df

 

Immigrants Leaving Ellis Island Bound for Different Places in the West. Leslie's Weekly, 18 April 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d4e6ed5b

 

Immigrants Lounging on the Steps of the Immigrant Station. Leslie's Weekly, 18 April 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d50b476e

 

Immigrants Are Lined up and Waiting for the Signal To Board the Boat for Jersey City, Whence They Take Trains for Western Points. Leslie's Weekly, 18 April 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d5195cf2

 

Immigrants Enjoying a Meal in America -- Food and Clothing Carried in the Same Satchel. Leslie's Weekly, 18 April 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d530f49a

 

Stream of Newcomers That Are Being Diverted to the Southern States. Leslie's Weekly, 18 April 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d542504a

 

Pens on the "Railroad Floor" Where Immigrants Are Grouped According to Destination and Supplied With Railroad Tickets. Leslie's Weekly, 18 April 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d550110b

 

Immigrants Anxiously Looking for the First Chance To Leave Ellis Island. Leslie's Weekly, 18 April 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d6153960

 

Cossack Immigrants, of whom about 5,500 were admitted in 1906. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9a02a47b

 

A German Family of One Daughter and Seven Sons. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9a82ada7

 

A Scotch Family of Seven Daughters and Four Sons. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9abf7d7b

 

Typical Russian Hebrew Family. 153,748 Hebrews were admitted in 1906. This year the number will be greater. They come principally from Russia. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9ad0eb97

Finnish Girl | Russian Sisters. 14,000 Finns arrived in 1906. The Russian Empire contributed 215,665 of our immigrants in 1906 most of them being Hebrews. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID #1d9aebb665

 

Alsace Lorraine Girl | Finnish Family. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9b8eb1ad

 

Polish and Slovak Women. Immigrant ID Tags Are Visible, Attached to the Outer Garment. 135,000 of these people were admitted in 1906. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9b7c3c28

 

Ruthenian (Belorussian) Girl | Typical Southern Italian Girl. 286,814 Italians arrived in 1906, of whom 240,528 were from Southern Italy and Sicily. The Romanians come from Galicia, in Austria-Hungary, and numbered 16,257. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9ba56d04

 

Holland Children | Holland Women. About 5,000 people from The Netherlands arrive yearly. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9be7e459

 

Typical Romanian Peasant. Little Rumania sent us 4,500 of her men and women in 1906. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9c36c730

 

Romanian Shepherd's Family as They Appeared on landing in New York. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9c5ee829

 

Hindus and Parsis. Less than one hundred arrived last year. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9c5ee829

 

Group of Arabs. Only a few representatives of this people come to the United States. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9caf4cc9

 

Hungarian Family at Ellis Island. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9cd3e442

 

Serbian Gypsies at Ellis Island. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9cfaa787

 

Children's Roof Garden at Ellis Island. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9d0c19a8

 

Excluded Gypsies About To Be Deported. National Geographic Magazine, May 1907. GGA Image ID # 1d9d19ff90

 

Portion of the 1,000 Marriageable Women from the RMS Baltic Originating From Liverpool and Queenstown (Cobh), 27 September 1907. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704439. GGA Image ID # 1487eb048e

 

Two More of the "Baltic's" 1,000 Girls at Ellis Island. 1907 George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704436. GGA Image ID # 1489ae592b

 

Steerage Passengers on Their Way to Ellis Island. The Steerage Crowds at They Looked In 1907. Huddled Together Between Their Boxes and Bales, Masses of Strangers Hurried to These Shores. Photo Courtesy of "The News," New York. The Chronicle of Ellis Island, 1935. GGA Image ID # 14ddb8f39f

 

Women and Childing Passing the Time in the Detention Pen in the Cool and Airy Roof Garden at Ellis Island. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d62dae0b

 

Immigrants Purchasing Food in Paper Boxes Before Leaving Ellis Island for New York. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d6387c4c

 

Potential Citizens With All Their Worldly Possessions in Their Hands or on Their Backs. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d6778ac7

 

View of the Men's Dormitory at Ellis Island. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d699da49

 

Bunks and Wash Basins in the Dormitory for Women and Children at Ellis Island. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d6a5e586

 

Steamers and Barges in Which the Immigrants Are Brought to Ellis Island From the Ocean Liners. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d6cfe750

 

Immigrants Beginning Their Long Journey To Western Farms -- Note the Luncheon Boxes. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d729742e

 

An Interpreter Interrupting a Group of Immigrants To Explain Some of the Customs of the New Country. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d73224a4

 

Railroad Waiting Room Where Tickets to Any Part of the Country Are Sold. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d7495a5d

 

Surgeons Examining Immigrants for Trachoma. Leslie's Weekly, 24 October 1907. GGA Image ID # 14d7551c47

 

A Duchess Concerned in the Welfare of Aliens at Ellis Island. Notable Group Pictured During the Recent Visit on 15 November 1907 of the Duchess of Marlborough to the Immigration Station at Ellis Island, New York Harbor. Left to Right: Mrs. Clarence H. Mackay, Commissioner of Immigration, Robert Watchorn, the Duchess of Marlborough, and Clarence H. Mackay. Leslie's Weekly, 5 December 1907. GGA Image ID # 14dda730bc

 

Polish Emigrant Boarding the SS President Grant Carrying Trunk on His Shoulder, 18 November 1907. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704434. GGA Image ID # 1488a6df5f

 

Last View of Their Homeland - Norwegian Emigrants Waiting on Shore for a Tender to Take Them to the Hamburg-American Line Steamship Anchored in the Harbor of Hammerfest, Norway to Begin Their Journey to America. Hamburg-American Line 1908. GGA Image ID # 154752c8b0

 

Interpreter and Recorder Interviewing Newcomers to Ellis Island, 1908. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection. New York Public Library. NYPL # 79880. GGA Image ID # 14e56a782b

 

Group of Immigrants Waiting at Ellis Island, 1908. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection. New York Public Library. NYPL # 79881. GGA Image ID # 14e5b9f7de

 

Immigrant Children at Ellis Island, New York, ca. 1908. © Brown Bros., New York. Part of the Public Health Service Historical Photograph File, 1880-1943. National Archives and Records Administration # 6341034. GGA Image ID # 14e04b32d7

 

Immigrants Passed For Entry Into the United States and Waiting To Leave Ellis Island on the Next Barge. nd circa 1908 (1902-1913). Photograph by Edwin Levick. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, New York Public Library. NYPL # 416751. GGA Image ID # 14e7e808a3

 

Ferry Docked at Adjacent Pier at Ellis Island Immigrant Station. nd, ca 1908 (1902-1913). Photograph by Edwin Levick (#7460). The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, New York Public Library. NYPL # 416752. GGA Image ID # 14e824ebba

 

Out Buildings Near Ellis Island Pier; Immigrants Can Be Seen With Trunks and Luggage. nd, ca 1908 (1902-1913). Photograph by Edwin Levik (#23023). The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, New York Public Library. NYPL # 416770. GGA Image ID # 14e8367c42

 

Immigrants Undergo Medical Examination at Ellis Island ca. 1908 (1902-1913). Photograph by Edwin Levick from the William Williams Collection. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, New York Public Library. NYPL # 416754. GGA Image ID # 14ea9ea1e3

 

Robert Watchorn, Commissioner of Immigration at the Port of New York. Photo © The Outlook. The Baptist Home Missionary Monthly, March 1908. GGA Image ID # 14d2da68cf

 

Typical Jewish Immigrant at Ellis Island. Photo © The Outlook. The Baptist Home Mission Monthly, March 1908. GGA Image ID # 14d2fdf7cd

 

A Single Immigrant Family From Holland -- The Type of Immigrants We Want More Of. The Baptist Home Mission Monthly, March 1908. GGA Image ID # 14d456f823

 

A Mother and Daughter Mark a Bright Spot at Ellis Island. The Baptist Home Mission Monthly, March 1908. GGA Image ID # 14d47d824a

 

Antonia Piestincola, 37, Italian Piper, Arrived on the SS San Giovanni 12 May 1908 at Ellis Island. National Park Service # 657ECEFE. GGA Image ID # 149370edf9

 

Dutch Mother, Johanna Dykhof, 40, With Her Eleven Children at Ellis Island. They Arrived on the SS Noordam, on 8 May 1908, and Intend To Move to Loretta, Minnesota From Holland. National Park Service # 658CB6AF. GGA Image ID # 14949b32c7

 

An Italian Family. The Man Tried To Pass As Her Husband, but Was Found To Be Her Brother. The Home Missionary, March 1909. GGA Image ID # 149ade1e51

 

Detained Hungarian Immigrants. The Girl Ran Away With Her Husband's Brother, Whom She Tried To Pass As Her Husband. Both Are Sent Back. The Home Missionary, March 1909. GGA Image ID # 149aeb3f12

 

A Runaway Italian Mother and Two Girls. The Home Missionary, March 1909. GGA Image ID # 149af4321d

 

A Young Immigrant Woman Receives Bad News About Her Husband to Be: Telegram From the West, "He Is Dead." She Must Go Back. The Home Missionary, March 1909. GGA Image ID # 149b3c2442

 

An Immigrant Family Comes to America To Find Father. The Father Ran Away to America and Married Another Woman, and a Former Husband Turns up Unexpectedly. The Family Must Go Back, and the Difficulty Cleared in the Home Country. The Home Missionary, March 1909. GGA Image ID # 149b4d9f1f

 

The Betrayed Polish Girl Who Came To Find Her Lover, Is Detained at Ellis Island Pending the Outcome of the Inquiry. The Home Missionary, March 1909. GGA Image ID # 149b8cc9db

 

Greek Immigrant Woman Wearing Costume at Ellis Island, June 1909. Note the Immigrant ID Tag Attached to Her Outfit Shown on Your Right. National Park Service # 658AD1E8. GGA Image ID # 1490c60b27

 

Ellis Island Immigrant Station, New York City Postcard. The Rotograph Co., New York City # 82b. Printed in Germany. nd, Postally Used 8 July 1909. GG Archives Immigration Postcard Collection. GGA Image ID # 14f5452032

 

Ellis Island Hospital Operating Room circa 1909. Library of Congress # 95501818. GGA Image ID # 148481c552

 

Immigrants' Dining Room at Ellis Island circa 1910. National Park Service. NPSID 434796. GGA Image ID # 1da0909460

 

Five Female Immigrants Sitting on the Dock at Ellis Island. ca 1910 George Grantham Bain. Library of Congress # 2012646353. GGA Image ID # 1483d73de2

 

Italian Emigrants on the SS Friedrich der Grosse circa 1910. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704438. GGA Image ID # 1487e3154c

 

Large Group of Immigrants Gathered Around the Lawn of Ellis Island circa 1910. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014719586. GGA Image ID # 148b642036

 

Group of Immigrants Gathered on Lawn at Ellis Island circa 1910. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014719587. GGA Image ID # 148b92fc04

 

View of Hoffman Island Where Immigrants With Infectious Diseases Were Held in Quarantine Before Arriving at Ellis Island circa 1910. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014689774. GGA Image ID # 148d49f727

 

Two Young Ladies in Dutch Folk Costumes From the Netherlands at Ellis Island circa 1910. National Park Service # 6594EFB0. GGA Image ID # 14911a659f

 

Prosperous Looking Immigrant Family of 14 at Ellis Island. nd. circa 1910. National Park Service # 658DF65A. GGA Image ID # 14913dc1c8

 

Wallachian Woman With Her Three Young Children at Ellis Island. They Emigrated From the Austro-Hungarian Empire. nd. circa 1910. Inscription on Bottom of Photo: "Return this group of Wallachians (Austria) to A. F. Shermn, Ellis Island, NY." National Park Service # 70E4D1CA. GGA Image ID # 14923b1ecb

 

Immigrants Disembarking From the Ferry That Has Brought Them From Ellis Island to the Barge Office at the Battery. nd circa 1910. Photo Couresy of "The News," New York. The Chronicle of Ellis Island, 1935. GGA image ID # 14dffa7f93

 

Immigrants Gathered Outside of the Main Building at Ellis Island. nd circa 1910. Department of the Treasury. Public Health Service. National Archives & Records Administration. NARA # 6235189. GGA Image ID # 14e062f987

 

A Woman, Girl, and a Boy Peering Out Against a Chain Link Fence at Ellis Island. nd, circa 1910. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hine. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection. New York Public Library. NYPL # 79885. GGA Image ID # 14e72ada4f

 

New York City -- Ellis Island Emigration Station. Colorized Postcard, Postally Unused. nd, circa 1910. GG Archives Immigration Postcard Collection. GGA Image ID # 14f59b2c78

 

Detention of Immigrants at Ellis Island 16 July 1910. National Park Service # 194010. GGA Image ID # 148e885b8c

 

Immigrant Inspection in the Great Hall at Ellis Island, 16 July 1910. National Park Service # 2011997. GGA Image ID # 148eb60b86

 

US President William Howard Taft and His Entourage on Visit to Ellis Island 18 October 1910. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014688607. GGA Image ID # 148a308d99

 

President Taft Visiting Ellis Island, 18 October 1910, Showing West End of Main Crib, Island One. Library of Congress, Division of Prints and Photography, Bain Collection, B2-2089-14. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 1495e3bec9

 

Charles Nagel, President Taff, Immigration Commissioner Williams, et al at Ellis Island, 18 October 1910. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014688608. GGA Image ID # 148a368d42

 

President William Howard Taft at Ellis Island, 18 October 1910. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014688665. GGA Image ID # 148ba166e9

 

Immigrant Landing Stage at Ellis Island. Tender Brings New Immigrants to Ellis Island for Processing. nd circa 1910s. Detroit Publishing Company # 0500726. Library of Congress # 2016796928. GGA Image ID # 14824f206a

 

Dock at Ellis Island with Immigrants in the Background. nd circa 1910s. National Photo Company Collection # 3163F. Library of Congress # 89707154. GGA Image ID # 14840f2e1f

 

Immigrants Pass by Inspectors at Ellis Island Circa 1910s. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704437. GGA Image ID # 148504ebbe

 

Immigrant at Registration Desk at Ellis Island ca 1910s. Bain News Service. Photograph Shows a Man Waiting, with Others in Queue Behind Him, at the Registration Desk in the Immigration Station on Ellis Island; An Immigration Official Is Seated at the Desk. Library of Congress LCCN 97501640. GGA Image ID # 148505c990

 

Immigrant at Registration Desk at Ellis Island ca 1910s. Bain News Service. Photograph Shows a Man Waiting, with Others in Queue Behind Him, at the Registration Desk in the Immigration Station on Ellis Island; An Immigration Official Is Seated at the Desk. Library of Congress LCCN 2014688794. GGA Image ID # 1d9f064616

 

Immigrants Awaiting Examination at Ellis Island ca 1910s. Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 97501087. GGA Image ID # 148517c246

 

Immigrants Walking Across Pier from Bridge at Ellis Island. nd circa 1910s. National Photo Company Collection # 3163E. Library of Congress # 91482188. GGA Image ID # 14863ac473

 

Ellis Island Dock with Immigrants in Foreground. nd circa 1910s. National Photo Company Collection # 3163G. Library of Congress # 98516508. GGA Image ID # 1487ac8e12

 

Main Inspection Hall at Ellis Island. Public Hygene, Vol. 2, 1911. GGA Image ID # 154aa73d5a

 

Immigrants Landing at Ellis Island. Public Hygiene, Vol. 2, 1911. GGA Image ID # 1548377dbd

 

Physical Examination of Female Immigrants at Ellis Island. Stereograph ca 1911. Library of Congress # 95506353. GGA Image ID # 14814f66f9

 

Physical Examination of Female Immigrants at Ellis Island, circa 1911. Library of Congress LCCN 95506353. GGA Image ID # 1d9e4be8c9

 

Immigrants from the SS Prinzessin Irene Going to Ellis Island. 1911 George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704432. GGA Image ID # 1488874386

 

Immigrants from the SS Prinzess Irene of the North German Lloyd Arriving at Ellis Island in 1911. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704429. GGA Image ID # 1484ee521c

 

A Representative of the New York Bible Society Distributing Bibles and Religious Literature to the Emigrants at Ellis Island. © 1911 Underwood & Underwood, New York. Image from Stereograph. Library of Congress # 2012646348. GGA Image ID # 148513db6f

 

Immigrants Going to Ellis Island Barge. 1911 George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704449. GGA Image ID # 14875e587f

 

Immigrants Going Aboard Ellis Island Barge. 1911 George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704450. GGA Image ID # 1487a08368

 

Women from Guadalupe (French West Indies) at Ellis Island, Having Arrived on the SS Korona, 6 April 1911. National Park Service # 454170. GGA Image ID # 149033bbe4

 

Ellis Island Examination Room, 1911. INS Photo. INS Report, Spring 1986. GGA Image ID # 14b236eb19

 

Line of Female Immigrants Undergoing Inspection at Ellis Island circa 1912. Bain News Service. Library of Congress LCCN 2001704437. GGA Image ID # 1d9f02122b

 

Immigrants Purchasing Railroad Tickets at Ellis Island, nd, circa 1912. Department of the Treasury. Public Health Service. National Archives & Records Administration 90-G-125-23. NARA # 595656. GGA Image ID # 14e0718539

 

Immigrants Carrying Luggage at Ellis Island. ND, Circa 1912. Sepia Colored Black and White Photo Showing Seven Women and One Boy. The Boy Is Wearing a Bowler Hat and a Long Jacket Following Behind 6 of the Women Who Are All Carrying Large White Sacks over Their Shoulders. One Woman Is off to the Side, Wearing All Black and Having a Picnic Basket. The Entire Group Is Approaching What Is Now the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration Under Cover of a Metal Overhang Walkway with a Glass Skylight. Department of the Treasury. Public Health Service. National Archives & Records Administration NAID # 595659. GGA Image ID # 14e0c87fbc

 

Immigrants Posing for a Photograph Outside a Building at Ellis Island. nd, circa 1912. Department of the Treasury. Public Health Service. National Archives & Records Administration 90-G-125-9. NARA # 595650. GGA Image ID # 14e0f16593

 

Group of Immigrants Outside a Building at Ellis Island. nd, circa 1912. Department of the Treasury. Public Health Service. National Archives & Records Administration 90-G-125-3. NARA # 595669. GGA Image ID # 14e1030906

 

Immigrants on Ferry Boat Approaching Ellis Island. Note That the Inspection ID Tags Are Already Attached to the Outer Garments of Each Alien. nd, circa 1912. Department of the Treasury. Public Health Service. National Archives & Records Administration. NAID # 594479. GGA Image ID # 14e15c2baf

 

Immigrants Waiting at the Dock at Ellis Island to Be Transferred. © 1912 Underwood & Underwood, New York. Library of Congress # 97501083. GGA Image ID # 148438c519

 

Immigrant Family and Their Belongings on a Dock at Ellis Island. © 1912 Underwood & Underwood. Library of Congress # 97501668. GGA Image ID # 148558197d

 

Two Immigrants on a Dock Facing the Water at Ellis Island. © 1912 Underwood & Underwood. Library of Congress # 2012646354. GGA Image ID # 1485dff5fa

 

View of Ellis Island from the Southeast, 1912. Museum of the City of New York, Underhill Collection, B19326. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 14969b028c

 

German Doctors at Ellis Island, 18 September 1912. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014690658. GGA Image ID # 148ae4ff9c

 

U.S. Inspectors Examining Eyes of Immigrants, Ellis Island, New York Harbor. Works and Studios, Arlington, N.J., Westwood, N.J. Underwood & Underwood, Publishers, c1913. Library of Congress LCCN 97501532. GGA Image ID # 1d9ef04320

 

Cipriano Castro, Ex-President of Venezuela, Landing at Ellis Island on 10 January 1913. Sign in the Background Reads "Ellis Island Ferry." George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014692310. GGA Image ID # 148d6d7749

 

Main Immigration Building at Ellis Island. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e21f8d43

 

The Immigrant Hospital at Ellis Island. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e2254cde

 

A Polish Mother Holding Her Baby Up To See The Doctor. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e26b4ce4

 

Examining Eyes on the Line at Ellis Island. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e304831a

 

Russian Immigrant Girls at Ellis Island. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e353c321

 

A Russian Jewish Boy, Just Landed (l) and A Chinese Girl in the Detention Quarters. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e359d030

 

The Matron and Some of Her Charges on the Roof at Ellis Island. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e35d5c1e

 

Immigrant Family's First Photograph Taken at Ellis Island. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e379d75b

 

A Serbian Woman (left) and a woman from Hindustan Wearing a Genuine Harem Skirt. Photographs taken at Ellis Island. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e3a8181e

 

Two African Arabs, Awaiting the Medical Examination. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e3f05e0a

 

Berbers from Algeria - Filling an Engagement at a New York Theater. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e4007c00

 

An Italian Immigrant Family -- a Mother and Five Children. The Popular Science Monthly, January 1913. GGA Image ID # 14e4577514

 

Casting of Underwater Concrete Blocks for Contract 1, 17 May 1913. NARA I, RG 85, Entry 9, Box 55640, file 558A. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 14972a0119

 

Setting of Underwater Concrete Blocks for Contract 1, 19 July 1913. NARA I, RG 85, Entry 9, Box 55640, file 558 A. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 1497464cfe

 

Construction of Contract 1 Seawall, Looking North, August 1913. NARA I, RG 85, Entry 9, Box 55640, file 558A. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 1496a576c2

 

Immigrant Women in Line for Inspection at Ellis Island. Photo by Hine. The Old World in the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14d8f4f234

 

Slovakian Women and Children at Ellis Island. Photo by Hine. The Old World in the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14d90150e7

 

Typical Norwegian Boy Immigrating to the United States. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14d93b777e

 

Typical Swedish Girl Immigrating to the United States. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14d94e9c7b

 

Italian Gypsy Mother and Child at Ellis Island. Photo by Hine. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14d960a431

 

Italian Woman of Greek of Albanian Ancestry. Photo by Hine. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14d9881d78

 

Group of Italian Immigrants Lunching in the Old Railroad Waiting Room at Ellis Island. Photo by Hine. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14d98de5e9

 

The Board of Special Inquiry In Session at Ellis Island. Photo by Hine. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14da7217f7

 

Slavic Sisters at Ellis Island. Photo by Hine. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14dabcf566

 

Slavic Immigrant Girl. Photo by Hine. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14db2b4c16

 

Slavic Woman and Italian Husband. Photo Courtesy of The Survey. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14dbd4d394

 

Slavic Immigrant Girls at Ellis Island. Photo by Hine. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14dbdf58b5

 

Russian Jewish Immigrants at Ellis Island. Photo by Hine. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14dc02e939

 

Hindu Immigrants on Ellis Island Barge. Photo Courtesy of The Survey. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14dc1d5d64

 

Slovak Woman and Jewish Man at Ellis Island. Photo by Hine. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14dc760c2c

 

Molokan Immigrant from Russia. From a Semi-wild Tribe, Members of Which Eat No Meat. Molokans Are Members of Various Spiritual Christian Sects That Evolved from Eastern Christianity in the East Slavic Lands. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14dc9af79d

 

Hungarian Magyar Peasant Woman at Ellis Island. Note Her Own Embroidery on Apron: "If I Am Pure and Good, I Expect to Be Honored." Magyars Are People Who Originated in the Urals and Migrated Westward to Settle in What Is Now Hungary in the 9th Century AD. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14dcb1276b

 

Romanian Shepherds in Native Costume at Ellis Island. The Old World and the New, 1914. GGA Image ID # 14dcb646c6

 

The Ferry-Boat Ellis Island Plying Between the Immigrant Station at Ellis Island and the Barge Office at Battery Park. All Foreigners Destined for New York Come Over on This Boat. Those Bound for Points Beyond New York Are Taken Direct to the Railroad Terminals in Barges. © 1914 Photographic Bureau of the New York Edison Company, The Edison Monthly, October 1914. GGA Image ID # 149dbdec60

 

In the Barge Office Where Groups of Immigrants Are Made Up, Awaiting the Services of Guides. © 1914 Photographic Bureau of the New York Edison Company, The Edison Monthly, October 1914. GGA Image ID # 149df979e0

 

The Barge Office in Battery Park Houses, in Addition to Its Immigration Quarters, Several Branches of the Federal Service, Among Them the Bureau of Animal Industry, the Civil Service Examination Rooms, the Recreation Rooms of the Customs Inspectors as Well as the Offices of the Ship News Reporters. The Building Receives Its Electric Current from the New York Edison Company. © 1914 Photographic Bureau of The New York Edison Company, The Edison Monthly, October 1914. GGA Image ID # 149e6b7612

 

"The Strangers," Newly Arrived Immigrants Being Their Journey in New York. The Signage on Stairway Reads "Up Town Train." © 1914 Photographic Bureau of The New York Edison Company, The Edison Monthly, October 1914. GGA Image ID # 149e9c10c1

 

Two Young Immigrants Standing in Front of Luggage Section 8 at Ellis Island circa 1915. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014702226. GGA Image ID # 148b33b625

 

Immigrants Disembarking from the Ferry Begin Their Walk to the Entrance of Ellis Island Circa 1915. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014710703. GGA Image ID # 148bf9f87e

 

Dutch Family at Ellis Island circa 1915. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014710706. GGA Image ID # 148c69db77

 

Ellis Island Inspector Examines Immigrant Family's Documents in the Registry Room Circa 1915. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014710707. GGA Image ID # 148caf7764

 

Ariel View of Ellis Island Circa 1915. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014711712. GGA Image ID # 148d41cf4e

 

One of Many Ferry Boats or Tenders That Transported Immigrants to and from Ellis Island Circa 1915. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014711414. GGA Image ID # 148dc9d274

 

Physicians at Ellis Island Treating Immigrants in the Hospital Ward. nd. circa 1915. National Park Service # 38C21596. GGA Image ID # 1490a87939

 

Ellis Island Commissioner of Immigration Frederic Clemson Howe (November 21, 1867 – August 3, 1940), Was a Member of the Ohio Senate, Commissioner of Immigration of the Port of New York, and Published Author. President Woodrow Wilson Appointed the Noted Municipal Reformer Dr. Frederic Howe as Commissioner in 1914. During His Term, Dr. Howe Ameliorated the Conditions of Detained Aliens. Howe Resigned as Commissioner in 1920. Photo by Harris & Ewing. Library of Congress # 2016859016. GGA Image ID # 148e5a761c

 

The Board of Special Inquiry, Ellis Island. Drawn by A. Castaigne. The Century Magazine, January 1916. GGA Image ID # 154843bf64

 

The Registry Department at Ellis Island. Drawn by A. Castaigne. The Century Magazine, January 1916. GGA Image ID # 15484e9409

 

The New York Detention Room, Ellis Island. Drawn by G. W. Peters. The Century Magazine, January 1916. GGA Image ID # 1548f55ad8

 

The Registry Desk at Ellis Island. Drawn by G. W. Peters. The Century Magazine, January 1916. GGA Image ID # 1549c64d4e

 

Serving Soups to Immigrants on the Roof Garden at Ellis Island. Drawn by G. W. Peters. The Century Magazine, January 1916. GGA Image ID # 154a61a19b

 

The "Deported Pen," Ellis Island. Drawn by A. Castaigne. The Century Magazine, January 1916. GGA Image ID # 154a87efc9

 

Food Will Win the War - You Came Here Seeking Freedom, Now You Must Help to Preserve It - Wheat Is Needed for the Allies - Waste Nothing by Charles Edward Chambers. Lithograph 1917. United States Food Administration Poster Showing Immigrants Arriving in New York Harbor, with the Statue of Liberty Beneath a Rainbow. Library of Congress # 2002720171. GGA Image ID # 14836d9ab2

 

Construction of Concrete Counterforts on Top of Island Two or Three Cribwork, Phoenix Construction Company, 1917. NARA NYC, RG 79, Folder 203. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 1497e95cab

 

Medical Inspection of Immigrants in the Proximal Lines at Ellis Island. Edwin Levick, New York. United States Public Health Service, Mental Examination of Immigrants, 18 May 1917, p. 737 Fig, 1. GGA Image ID # 1499957b70

 

Inspection of Immigrant's Eyes in the Distal Lines at Ellis Island. Edwin Levick, New York. United States Public Health Service, Mental Examination of Immigrants, 18 May 1917, p. 737 Fig, 2. GGA Image ID # 149a1b6da2

 

Diagram of the Arrangement of Line Inspection of Immigrants at Ellis Island. United States Public Health Service, Mental Examination of Immigrants, 18 May 1917, p. 734. GGA Image ID # 14987f467a

 

Secondary Mental Inspection or Weeding-Out Process at Ellis Island. This Occurs Immediately After Line Inspection. Edwin Levick, New York. United States Public Health Service, Mental Examination of Immigrants, 18 May 1917, p. 737 Fig, 2. GGA Image ID # 1d7dcf82fd

 

First Regular Examination 24 Hours After Arrival at Ellis Island. Edwin Levick, New York. United States Public Health Service, Mental Examination of Immigrants, 18 May 1917, p. 738 Fig, 4. GGA Image ID # 149a33a5c2

 

Third and Fourth Regular Examination, One Week After Arrival. Alien Is Certified "Feeble-Minded." Edwin Levick, New York. United States Public Health Service, Mental Examination of Immigrants, 18 May 1917, p. 738 Fig, 5. GGA Image ID # 149a6f7600

 

Accomplishments of the Mental Examinations of Aliens in the Line Department at Ellis Island, June Through August 1916. Mental Examination of Immigrants, 18 May 1917, p. 746. GGA Image ID # 149aa132d3

 

Map Showing the Foreign Stock in the Population of the United States – By Foreign Stock, We Mean Foreign Born and Children of a Foreign-Born Father or Mother. The Black States Have More People Who Are Immigrants, or the Sons and Daughters of Immigrant Parents Than They Have of Native Stock. The Immigrants of the United States and Their Children Would Populate to Its Present Density All of the United States West of the Mississippi, with Alabama and Mississippi Added. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14c99741b3

 

Scottish Immigrant Children at Ellis Island. Taunted by the Fact That in England Oats Were Fed to Horses and in Scotland to Men, a Famous Scot Replied That England Was Recognized for Its Horses and Scotland for Its Men. America Knows How Much It Is Indebted to Scotland and the Scotch-Irish. Nearly Half of Our Presidents Have Been either Scotch or Scotch-Irish. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14c9a31ec1

 

A Russian Hebrew Vegetarian Immigrant at Ellis Island: New York City in the Background. In Normal Times, Ellis Island Might Be Called the World Congress of Costumes. Everything but the Habiliments of Eden Seems to Pass Muster There. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14ca022d14

 

Four Little Dutch Immigrant Children Just Arrived at Ellis Island. Generations of Careful Living, Such as Is Always Necessary for a Country of Narrow Boundaries and Expanding Population, Have Developed in the Dutch a Frugality and Contentment with Simple Pleasures That Cannot Be Excelled. A Frugality and Contentment with Simple Pleasures That Cannot Be Excelled in the Dutch. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14ca09c352

 

Two Dutch Families – Immigrants Through Ellis Island: In Each Case, the Parents and Children Number 13. Photographs from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14ca0d16a6

 

Typical Headdress of Italian Immigrant Women, Passing Through Ellis Island. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14ca62f9ad

 

Two Immigrants Passing Through Ellis Island. On the Left, a Russian Vegetarian. On the Right, a Bavarian Peasant. Photographs from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14ca7041ed

 

Immigrant Children from the Balkan States at Ellis Island. "Such Pretty Dollies as They Do Have in America! 'Course I'll Have My Picture Taken if You Let Me Hold That Sweet Little Dolly!" Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cb4aa622

 

Adorable Immigrant Children at Ellis Island. On the Left, a Natty Little Lady from Norway. On the Right, Wallachian Children from Austria. Photographs by A. F. Sherman. National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cb68620a

 

In Matters of Costume, Americanization Often Proceeds All but Too Rapidly. Immigrant in Folk Costume at Ellis Island. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cba3b1c4

 

Two Immigrants at Ellis Island. On the Left Is a Turkish Bank Guard, and on the Right, an Algerian, Who Is Part of the Annual Quota for Algeria. Photographs from Frederic C. Howe. The National Archives, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cc0f9f0e

 

Immigrants in Railway Waiting Room at Ellis Island. Having Passed Muster with the Doctor and the Inspector at the Nation's Gate, It Has Swung Open to These New Arrivals, and Now They Are in Free America, Ready to Journey Unhindered to Their Respective Destinations. Photograph by A. F. Sherman. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cc17001c

 

This Illustration Shows Where Our Immigrants from Germany, Scandinavia, Ireland, and Austria-Hungary Have Settled. Courtesy of the US Census Bureau. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cc1a3560

 

This Illustration Shows Where Our Immigrants from Russia, Italy, Canada, and Great Britain Have Settled. Courtesy of the US Census Bureau. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cc54bd98

 

An Immigrant Woman from Lapland at Ellis Island. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cc80fd5a

 

The Melting Pot in Operation. Of the 14,500,000 People of Foreign Birth in the United States Today, Some 3.000,000 Do Not Speak Our Language. The United States Bureau of Education of the Department of the Interior, Which Has Accomplished Wonders in Coordinating; The Educational Activities of the Nation, Has Undertaken to Establish Night Schools in Every Industrial Center as One of the Processes of Americanizing These People, Other Countries Frequently Compel Their Nationals to Learn the Official Language and Place Bans on Alien Tongues. But America Is Going About the Task in Kindlier Spirit, and Its Efforts Are Being Appreciated. The Picture Shows the Big School of a Big Industrial Concern in Session; The Teachers at the Blackboards Are Foreigners Who Can Talk in Both Their Native and Their Adopted Tongues. © 1917 Underwood & Underwood. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14ccf9e984

 

Montenegrins in Their Native Costumes at Ellis Island. Mountaineers by Birth and Environment, the People of Montenegro Are a Great, Upstanding, Sinewy Race. Physical Perfection Must He Inherit, but Education May Be Acquired, and the Montenegrin Bequeaths the One and a Desire for the Other to His American-Born Posterity. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cd1fca77

 

Children of All Nations on the Ellis Island Roof Garden. Many Poor Little Boys and Girls Who Arrive at Ellis Island Do Not Know How American Kiddies Play. Still, the Roof-Garden Romps One May See Every Good Day Show Are Apt for Learning. Photograph by Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cd671675

 

Peasant Norwegian Immigrant Children in Folk Costumes. Of All the Countries on the Earth, Only Ireland Has Contributed a Higher Proportion of Her Sons and Daughters to the Development of America Than Norway. We Now Have One Third as Many Norwegians and Their Children as the Homeland Itself. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cdb0c478

 

A Finnish Immigrant Family at Ellis Island. There Are About Six Thousand Finns in the United States. Hardy, Self-Reliant, and Industrious, They Make Good Citizens of the Type That Scandinavia Sends Us. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cdb838fd

 

Romanian Shepherds at Ellis Island. Three-Fifths of All the Romanians Who Have Come to America Were Farm Laborers in the Old Country. Yet, It Is Rare. Indeed, That One Is Found in the United States Elsewhere Than in the Factory, the Mine, and the Railroad Construction Gang. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cded2d5c

 

A Slovak Immigrant Mother and Her Children at Ellis Island. The Slovaks Are an Agricultural People, Occupying All Northern Hungary Except Ruthenian Territory. Nearly a Half-Million of Them Have Come to America, Though Many of Them Return to Europe. They Came So Rapidly in the Years Before the War That Whole Villages Were All but Depopulated, and Wages Increased 100 Percent in Many Places as a Result of Their Departure for America. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cea03690

 

A Russian Immigrant Mother and Her Children at Ellis Island. "No, I Was Not Sleeping. I Just Couldn't Help Sneezing When the Camera Shutter Clicked." Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cea1cd49

 

A Greek Soldier of the Royal Guard at Ellis Island. The Greek Shoe-Shining Emporium and the Greek Popular-Priced Restaurants Have Served to Distribute the Hellenic Immigrants Better Than Almost Any Other Race of the "New" Immigration, and Distribution Is Solving the Problem of Their Assimilation. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14ced521b1

 

An Italian Immigrant Boy Dressed as a Soldier. Who Knows but That the Blood of a Caesar, an Anthony, or a Seneca May Course Through the Veins of This Little Future American? Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cee50245

 

A Large German Immigrant Family Transplanted to America. The Seventh Son of a Seventh Son Is Not So Rare in Germany, for Next to the Russians, the Germans Have the Largest Families of Any People in Europe. More Than Six Million Germans Have Come to This Country, but Live Million of Them Came More Than 27 Years Ago. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14ceea9a65

 

Missionaries of the New York Bible Society Met with Ellis Island Immigrants. Nearly All the Religious Denominations and Charitable Organizations of New York Take Some Part in Helping the Immigrants to Steer Clear of the Pitfalls of the Metropolis. Photograph by A. F. Sherman. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cf1cf50a

 

A Typical Russian Jewish Immigrant Family at Ellis Island. Among the Jews Who Came to America from Russia Before the War Were Thousands of Families like This One. Even amid Direst Poverty, and the Most Unsanitary Surroundings, Many of Them Can Triumph over Dirt and Disease by Adhering to That Remarkable Code of Personal Hygiene Laid Down in the Laws of Moses. National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cf4a3188

 

Three Russian Cossacks at Ellis Island. These Warriors of the Russian Plain Make Sturdy Americans — As Industrious in Peace as They Were Fearless in Battle. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14cf66d18e

 

A Large Scottish Immigrant Family. But the Fact That Our Immigrant Population and the People in the Rural Districts Are More Given to Marriage and Large Families Than the Urban Folk of Native Stock, America's Growth Would Be at a Standstill. Between the Disinclination to Marry and the Tendency Toward Small Families, American City-Living Folk of Native Ancestry Today Does Not Have Enough Children to Reproduce the Race. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14d0021a9b

 

A Large English Immigrant Family – A Mother with Her Nine Children. Like Her Sturdy Prototypes of Colonial Times, This Good Mother Has Come To Find a Home for Her Posterity in America. Please Think of the Self-Denial It Requires to Feed Nine Hungry Mouths and Clothe Nine Growing Children in This Era of High Prices. Yet Love Has Lightened Labor. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14d00e2d0e

 

A Group of Serbian Gypsies at Ellis Island. Ethnological Measurements Show That Even the Very Bones of the Immigrant's Body Are Warped into an American Type in His Children and His Children's Children. What Could Be More Eloquent Than This of the Success of the Processes of Americanization as the Generations Rise and Pass? Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14d03f0d05

 

Immigrants Landing at Ellis Island. On the Left Is a Hindu from India. In No Other Race, Furnishing Immigrants to America Is the Percentage of Women Coming So Small as Among the Hindus. On the Right a Dwarf from Myanmar (Burma). He Is Not Too Short to Enjoy His Cigarette nor to Be Proud of His Bracelet. Photographs from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14d0a9f3c4

 

A Giant Russian Immigrant, Seven Feet, Nine Inches Tall, Is Shown Here with Two Men of Normal Size. The Russians Who Come to America Are a Sturdy, Hardy, Seasoned Race, but Not All of Them Are as Large as This Giant, Who Can Look Down upon 99.9999 Percent of All Mankind. Photograph from Frederic C. Howe. The National Geographic Magazine, February 1917. GGA Image ID # 14d0b1b265

 

Immigrant Family at Ellis Island, March 1917. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704441. GGA Image ID # 1481de353b

 

They Were Testing Male Immigrants at Ellis Island. Photo by Underwood and Underwood. In 1914, the Last Year of Heavy Immigration, 6,537 Aliens Were Excluded Because of Physical or Mental Defect Which Was Thought Likely to Make Them Become Public Charges. Half of These Were Suffering from Some Loathsome or Contagious Disease, While 1,247 Were Mentally Defective. Trachoma, a Contagious Disease of the Eyes, Is the Commonest Cause for Exclusion, and Four-Fifths of Those Who Were Excluded for Physical Defects Were Suffering from It. Since the Outbreak of the War, the Number of Immigrants Arriving Has Much Decreased, and the Examiners Have Therefore Had Time to Inspect Them More Thoroughly, with the Result That a Larger Percentage Than Usual of Defectives Has Been Detected. The Journal of Heredity, April 1917. GGA Image ID # 14e9f013e7

 

Inspecting a Group of Female Immigrants. Photo by Underwood and Underwood. Hitherto the Exclusion of Undesirable Immigrants Has Been Difficult Because the Force of Examiners Was Not Enough to Meet the Rush of Arrivals in the Spring and Because the Law Omitted Certain Classes Who Should Have Been Kept Out. The New Immigration Act, Passed by Congress in February, Increases the Inspecting Staff and Makes Important New Provisions for Excluding Those Whose Presence in the United States Would Be Dysgenic. It Also Contains Provisions Which Ensure Greater Consideration and Safety for the Individual Immigrant. The Journal of Heredity, April 1917. GGA Image ID # 14ea2068a6

 

Newly Arrived Immigrants at the Docks of Ellis Island. Every Immigrant That Wishes to Land on Our Shores Must, According to Law, Prove That He Can Read in His Language—and the Bible Has Been Chosen as the Book upon Which the Test Must Be Made. "Not Because It Is Considered a Sacred Book by Many People, but Because It Is Now the Only Book In Virtually Every Tongue," Is the Reason the American Department of Labor Gives for Adopting It. Bewildered by the Vastness and Bustle of This Strange New World, the Immigrant Finds at Last One Familiar Thing the Words of the Bible in His Language, Which He Reads Aloud to the Examining Official. At Ellis Island, the Most Symbolic of All Immigrant Points of Entrance, These Huddled Groups Have Found That, Once Again, the Bible Marks the Beginning of a Fuller and Freer Life. World Outlook, March 1918. GGA image ID # 14d17b4d75

 

Young Children Standing in Luggage Area Eight at Ellis Island with Immigrant ID Tags Attached to Their Clothing. Bain News Service circa 1920. Library of Congress LCCN 2014702226. GGA Image ID # 1da059c775

 

Ferries Docked at Ellis Island ca 1920. Bain News Service. Library of Congress LCCN 2014702227. GGA Image ID # 1da088445d

 

Barges Filled with Immigrants at Ellis Island, June 1920. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704447. GGA Image ID # 148a09f815

 

Commissioner of Immigration Frederick A. Wallis. American Industries, December 1920. GGA Image ID # 14e84304fe

 

First Gateway to America -- Ellis Island. Underwood & Underwood. American Industries, December 1920. GGA Image ID # 14e85908ea

 

Types of Child Immigrants Seen at Ellis Island. American Industries, December 1920. GGA Image ID # 14e875a2d1

 

Three Young Highlander Immigrants at Ellis Island. American Industries, December 1920. GGA Image ID # 14e87771e0

 

Some of the Russian Refugees at Ellis Island. American Industries, December 1920. GGA Image ID # 14e8e34199

 

Talented Family Passes the Time at Ellis Island. © Underwood & Underwood. American Industries, December 1920. GGA Image ID # 14e8e4cb0f

 

Immigrants Held Under Detention at Ellis Island. © Underwood & Underwood. The NCWC Bulletin, September 1921. GGA Image ID # 14d0cd730b

 

Interior View of the Port Office, N. C. W. C. Bureau of Immigration, 61 Whitehall Street, New York City. The N. C. W. C. Bulletin, September 1921. GGA Image ID # 14d10317ce

 

At Ellis Island: The Ellis Island Representative of the Department of Immigrant Aid of the Council of Jewish Women, Is Bidding Farewell to Immigrants Who Have Just Been Admitted and Are About to Depart for Some Destination in the United States. The Jewish Woman: Official Organ of the Council of Jewish Women, October 1921. GGA Image ID # 154ba37249

 

Aerial View of Ellis Island circa 1920s. National Park Service Photo. INS Reporter, Spring 1985. GGA Image ID # 14b31e990f

 

Belgian Stowaway, Ooman Louis, Age 13, Admitted on Bond 22 February 1921, Attended to by Col. Helen R. Bastedo. National Park Service # 6580121B. GGA Image ID # 1490aa52b8

 

Like a Vision, the Great City of New York Rises Before the Newcomers. Photograph by Keystone View Co.The Delineator, March 1921. GGA Image ID # 14d1ba127d

 

2,000 Men, Women, and Children Remained for Five Days at Ellis Island Recently, Without Bunk Beds, and Had to Lie on the Floor or Sit up All Night, with Six Squeezed Together on Each Bench. Photo © Brown Bros. The Delineator, March 1921. GGA Image ID # 14d1d00671

 

Immigrants in the Maze at Ellis Island, Waiting to Be Inspected. "The Stream Has Become a Flood. There Are War Widows, Many of Them; There Are the Women Left Destitute of Funds by the War, Coming Here 'On Their Own' to Earn a Living." Photo © Brown Bros. The Delineator, March 1921. GGA Image ID # 14d2a09531

 

Newly Arrived Immigrants from the Third Class. "It Might Be Just as Well for American Women to Get Acquainted with Their Sisters Traveling Third-Class from Abroad." Photo © Brown Bros. The Delineator, March 1921. GGA Image ID # 14d20dc761

 

Overcrowding at Ellis Island Causes Unusual Sleeping Arrangements for Immigrants. Future American "Putting Up" with Uncle Sam. Over a Thousand Immigrants Were Recently Forced to Sleep on Blankets Spread on the Floors in Overcrowded Ellis Island. Our Treatment of the Immigrant Is "Criminal," Declare Several Investigators, and Commissioner Wallis Agrees with Them. Photo © International. The Literary Digest, 30 April 1921. GGA Image ID # 14d1aaf0ec

 

Ellis Island Commissioner Frederick Wallis Posed with a Group of New Arrivals in June 1921. Frederick Albert Wallis (1869-1951) Served as the Fourth Deputy Police Commissioner of New Yok City, Us Commissioner of Immigration, a New York City Department of Corrections Commissioner, and a Democratic National Convention Delegate. On June 1, 1920, He Was Appointed U. S. Immigration Commissioner of Ellis Island. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014710699. GGA Image ID # 148d9d33d6

 

Ellis Island Commissioner, Frederick Wallis Visits with a Group of New Immigrants at Ellis Island, in June 1921. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2014710700. GGA Image ID # 148db7f55b

 

Well-Dressed Family of 27 (Ostrovski) - Russian Refugees Posed on Deck of the SS Orbita upon Arrival in New York from Russia, 16 September 1921. George Grantham Bain Collection. Library of Congress # 2001704444. GGA Image ID # 1489caa42d

 

Ellis Island, 1922 with Two Barges Docked in Front of the Main Building. INS Photo by Brown Bros., NY. INS Reporter, Spring 1986. GGA Image ID # 14b22fbcd0

 

Testing the Intelligence of an Immigrant Woman at Ellis Island. America Wants Only Citizens of Sound Minds and Healthy Bodies. The General Intelligence of This Woman Is Being Tested by Measuring the Time It Takes Her to Place the Different-Shaped Blocks in Their Proper Places in the Frame. Community Life and Civic Problems, 1922. GGA Image ID # 14c8f49678

 

Physical Examination of Immigrants at Ellis Island. This Doctor Is Examining the Eyes of Immigrants. No Alien Suffering from Any Communicable Disease Is Allowed to Enter the United States. This Safeguard Is Necessary to Protect Americans Against Contagion from Other Lands. Community Life and Civic Problems, 1922. GGA Image ID # 14c91b8070

 

Immigrants Leaving Ellis Island. These Immigrants Have Successfully Passed the Different Physical and Mental Tests Given to Them. They Are Currently on Ellis Island and Are Soon on Their Way to Take the Government Boat to New York. On Some Days, as Many as Three Thousand Persons Pass Through This Gateway to America. At What Port Did Your Ancestors Enter the United States? Community Life and Civic Problems, 1922. GGA Image ID # 14c93b13f1

 

Inspection of the Immigrant's Luggage at Ellis Island. © 1922 Boston Photo News Company. Immigrants Bring All Sorts of Things with Them to This Country. They Often Expect to Be Able to Plant a Garden and Have In Their Luggage Plants, Bulbs, and Seeds. There Is a Quarantine Against Such Importations, Owing to the Millions of Dollars' Damage That Has Been Caused by Destructive Insects That Have Sometimes Been Brought In. This Man's Baggage Contained Sweet Potatoes and Several Rosebushes. The Customs Inspectors Found the Plants and Tubers and Summoned the Plant Quarantine Inspectors of the Department of Agriculture, Who Promptly Seized the Articles. Community Life and Civic Problems, 1922. GGA Image ID # 14c9433c87

 

Immigrant Mother and Children at Ellis Island, 1922. They Have Come from Yugoslavia to Find a Home in America, and Their Bags and Bundles Probably Contain All Their Possessions. Still, the Determined Faces of the Mother and the Cheery Countenances of the Youngsters as They Eat Their First Bread in the New World Promise Well for Their Future. Community Life and Civic Problems, 1922. GGA Image ID # 14c96ddad

 

Catholic Mass at Ellis Island. Catholic Immigrants from All Parts of the World, Most of Them Unable to Speak a Word of the English Language, Enjoy, for the First Time Since Leaving Their Native Land, a Feeling of Kinship and Comfort Through Attendance at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Provided Each Sunday for Those Awaiting Entry into the United States. Through the Courtesy of Commissioner of Immigration Tod and with the Cooperation of His Grace Archbishop Hayes, a Special Chaplain Celebrates Mass at Ellis Island Each Sunday for the Catholic Immigrants. The NCWC Bulletin, January 1923. GGA Image ID # 154b04ed73

 

Aerial View of Ellis Island, 1926. NARA II, RG 18 AA, Box 93, 60. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 1496caa8ec

 

Kindergarten Class at Ellis Island. © Brown Bros. The Cunarder Magazine, September 1923. Proof That It's the Little Things That Count at Ellis Island the Human Side of Ellis Island Stands Out Most Happily in the Kindergarten, Where You See Little Girls and Boys from All over Europe Beginning to Learn Fellow-Citizenship. Friendliness Is the Keynote of This Room, and Despite the Difference in Language, the Entente Is Very Cordial, Indeed.

 

Immigrant's First Meal in America © Brown Bros. The Cunarder Magazine, September 1923. Their First Meal in America Is a Good One. The Large, While-Tiled Dining-Room at Ellis Island Is Typical of the Whole Smooth-Running Régime. Here Good, Nourishing, Appetizing Food Helps Along the Favorable Impression Newcomers to the United States Take Away with Them from Ellis Island.

 

Immigrants Before the Board of Inquiry © Brown Bros. The Cunarder Magazine, September 1923. Some Special Cases Before the Board of Inquiry. Immigrants Who, for Some Reason or Other, Fail to Establish Their Eligibility for Admission into the United States Are Brought Before the Board of Special Inquiry, and Their Cases Considered. Every Circumstance Is Carefully Weighed, and if an Immigrant Can Possibly Be Admitted, He Is Admitted.

 

Ellis Island Administration Building and Transportation Barges © Brown Bros. The Cunarder Magazine, September 1923. The Imposing Administration Building and the Transportation Barges. These White-Painted Barges, Heated in Winter, Carry Immigrants from the Steamer to Ellis Island. There Is an Official Impressiveness About the Administration Building That Is Confirmed Later When You Examine the Inner Workings of the System at Ellis Island.

 

Hospital Ward at Ellis Island © Brown Bros. The Cunarder Magazine, September 1923. A Sunny Ward in the Hospital. Here Patients with Infectious Diseases Are Treated Free of Charge Until Good Health Makes Them Eligible for Entrance into the United States. It Is Unusually Pleasant for a Hospital.

 

Arial View of Ellis Island © Fairchild Aerial Service. The Cunarder Magazine, September 1923. An Air Pilot Sees Ellis Island from an Unusual Viewpoint. But Even from the Air, Ellis Island Has a Square Look. It Is, as Not Many People Know, a "Manufactured ' Island, and Cost, with Its Buildings and Equipment, $10,000,000. Its Situation on the Busiest Bay in the World, Makes It a Remarkably Interesting Foyer to Newcomers from All Parts of the World.

 

Old Immigrant from Odessa © Bradley & Merrill. The Cunarder Magazine, September 1923. A Fine Type of Immigrant on Ellis Island. A Grand Old Man, Indeed, Is This White-Bearded Grandfather from Odessa, Visions Peace and Comfort in a New Country Lighting His Face with Interest.

 

Jewish Grandmother at Ellis Island in 1926. Photograph by Lewis Wickes Hind. The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection. New York Public Library MFZ (Hine) 93-6226. NYPL # 91PH056.001. GGA Image ID # 14e47df8c3

 

Boat Unloading Immigrants at Ellis Island, New York Harbor. Stereograph by Keystone View Company © 1928. Library of Congress # 2008675318. GGA Image ID # 14f5fd1034

 

Aerial View of Ellis Island, New York, Photo Received from Mitchel Field on 4 April 1940. War Department. Army Air Forces. National Archives & Records Administration 18-AA-93-58. NARA # 68146015. GGA Image ID # 14e1713438

 

Asian Women in Traditional Dress at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 477580. GGA Image ID # 14901f61f7

 

Peasant Family from Romania in Detention on Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 657B97D8. GGA Image ID # 149036c9db

 

Cossack Immigrants Wearing Dress Uniforms at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 65831F8F. GGA Image ID # 1490bd763b

 

Cossack Immigrant Wearing Folk Costume, Overcoat Shown on the Left Background. nd. National Park Service # 65816E86. GGA Image ID # 1491baec53

 

Russian Immigrant Woman with Baby Weighing 55 Pounds at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 659F2A93. GGA Image ID # 1491ef050e

 

Immigrant Woman of Unknown Nationality Holds Two Children, One in Each Arm at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 659B48B8. GGA Image ID # 14920629ce

 

Swedish Immigrant Children Dressed in Folk Costumes at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 70E1DFD4. GGA Image ID # 14920f78b9

 

Five Young Female Immigrants in Folk Costumes at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 6586CB9D. GGA Image ID # 14924ec27c

 

Group of Moroccan Immigrants at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 6587D954. GGA Image ID # 14927d1c6f

 

Three Young Slovakian Immigrant Women at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 6593B4C6. GGA Image ID # 14928e14fc

 

Polish Immigrant Mother and Her Nine Children. nd. National Park Service # 657D7E93. GGA Image ID # 1492d591fc

 

Immigrant Man is Questioned by Inspector at the Registry Desk While a Clerk Records Notes on the Passenger Manifest. nd. National Park Service # BCDB5EE4. GGA Image ID # 1492edc428

 

Immigrant Family Photo at Ellis Island - The Parents with Two Young Children and Possibly the Mother's Father. nd. National Park Service # 658945CF. GGA Image ID # 1493ab3f38

 

Jewish Immigrant Family from England at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 658BE471. GGA Image ID # 1493faea93

 

Three Immigrant Men from Montenegro at Ellis Island. nd. National Park Service # 65926C81. GGA Image ID # 1494617611

 

Concrete Sheet Piles in Place, Section I (Northwest Side of Island Three), August 1, 1934. NARA II, RG I21, Box38, Folder C. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 14982f597d

 

Diagram from "A Report on Ellis Island as an Immigrant Depot, 1890-1954" by Thomas M. Pitkin (National Park Service, 1966). INS Reporter, Spring 1986. GGA Image ID # 14b27c79ad

 

Graph Showing Immigration for the Years 1820 to 1980. INS Reporter, Spring 1986. GGA Image ID # 14b29947d6

Map of Ellis Island and Surrounding Area including Statue of Liberty / Liberty Island, Governors Island, and Battery Park (Castle Garden). nd. INS Reporter, Spring 1986. GGA Image ID # 14b335d18e

 

Historical Development of Ellis Island and Its Seawall. Map from Cultural Landscape Inventory, Ellis Island, Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation, 2001; redrawn by Naomi Kroll, 2003. Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, July 2003. GGA Image ID # 14985f9973

End Notes

Note 1: The country's English name derives from Venetian and translates as "Black Mountain," deriving from the appearance of Mount Lovćen when covered in dense evergreen forests. "Montenegro History -- Part I" visit-montenegro.com.

Note 2: In 1902, The Maltine Company issued an album of photographs called Quarantine Sketches. It contains roughly forty engravings showing the care of immigrants at the New York quarantine station on Ellis Island in all its phases, from the arrival on shipboard to the departure by rail for the far west. It is altogether one of the most informative booklets that the Maltine Company has published, and this is according it great praise, for the company is noted for the dissemination of helpful material.

Bibliography

Charles B. Smith, "The Great Gateway to America," in the Metropolitan Magazine, Vol. IX, No. 2, February 1899, pp. 129-138.

Theodora Finks, "A Morning's Scenes at Ellis Island, in Home Mission Monthly, Vol. XV, No. 10, August 1901, pp. 230-231.

Quarantine Sketches, The Maltine Company, New York, 1902.

Edward Lowry, "Americans in the Raw," in The World's Work: A History of Our Time, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, Vol. IV, No, 6, October 1902, pp. 2644-2655.

Major W. Evans-Gordon, M.P., The Alien Immigrant: With Map and Numerous Illustrations for Author's Photographs, New York: Chas. Scribner's Sons, 1903.

"The World-Wide Migration to America: II. Distribution - The Really Serious Problem in Connection with American Immigration. How the Great Republic Makes Citizens of the Newcomers," in Dun's Review, International Edition: A Journal for the Promotion of International Trade, New York: R. G. Dun & Co., Vol. VII, No. 5, July 1905, p. 19-22.

Manners, O. N., "How Human Imports Are Handled" in System: A Monthly Magazine, Volume VIII, No. 4, October 1905, pp. 333-338.

Howard B. Grose, Aliens or Americans? Forward Mission Study Courses, Edited Under the Auspices of the Young People's Missionary Movement, New York: Eaton & Mains, 1906.

Mabel Hill, "An Immigration and Naturalization Story," in Lessons for Junior Citizens, Boston, et al.: Ginn and Company, 1906, p. 168-185.

Edward A. Steiner, On the Trail of the Immigrant, New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1906.

"Flood Tide of Immigration," in The Search-Light: Thrown on the Activities of the World, New York: The Search-Light Publishing Co., New Series: Vol. III, No. 17; Old Series: Vol. XXVII, No. 17, Saturday, 28 April 1906, p. 260.

Joseph H. Adams, "The Moral Wicket at the Gateway of Nations," in The Home Missionary, New York: Congregational Home Missionary Society, Vol. LXXXII, No. 10, March 1909 pp. 684-694

Dr. Alfred C. Reed, "Going Through Ellis Island," in The Popular Science Monthly, New York: The Science Press, Vol. LXXXII, No, 1, January 1913, pp. 5-18.

"Light on the Immigrant," in The Edison Monthly, New York: The New York Edison Company, Vol. VII, No. 5, October 1914, p. 172-175

"Our Foreign-Born Citizens," in The National Geographic Magazine, Washington DC: National Geographic Society, Vol. XXXI, No. 2, February 1917, pp. 95-130.

Robert De C. Ward, "Immigration After the War," in The Journal of Heredity, (Formerly the American Breeder's Magazine), Vol. VIII, No. 4 April, 1917, pp. 147-152.

E. H. Mullan, "Mental Examination of Immigrants: Administration and Line Inspection at Ellis Island," in Public Health Reports, Vol. 32, No. 20, 18 May 1917, pp. 733-746.

Frederick A. Wallis, "The Menace of the Immigrant Tide," in American Industries Magazine, New York: The National Manufacturers Company, Vol. XXI, No. 5, December 1920, pp. 7-10.

T. F. Mulholland, "America's International Clearing-House: Ellis Island's Immigration Task and the N. C. W. C.'s Part in It," in The National Catholic Welfare Council Bulletin, Washington, DC: The National Catholic Welfare Council, Vol. III, No. 4, September 1921, pp. 6-8.

Edward Corsi, In the shadow of Liberty; the chronicle of Ellis Island, New York: MacMillan & Company, 1935 (PD).

INS Reporter, US Immigration and Naturalization Service, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, Vol. 34, No, 2, Spring 1986.

Naomi Kroll, Ellis Island Seawall Historic Structure Report, Architectural Preservation Division, Northeast Region, National Park Service, US Department of the Interior, New York, July 2003.