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Breathe Free: Immigration through Ellis Island"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" What is Ellis Island?Ellis Island was the principal entry facility for immigrants entering the United States during much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Is Ellis Island still in use today?The facility closed to further immigrants in 1954, but was adopted by the National Park Service and made into a national landmark in 1965. The main building now serves as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, an interactive learning museum. In the museum, guests can soak in history, learn about immigration, and locate relatives who passed through Ellis Island via a searchable database. During what years was the island in operation?Ellis Island shuttled immigrants into the US from 1892 to 1954. About how many immigrants have passed through Ellis Island?Over 12 million. Where did these immigrants come from?The majority came from Europe – from England, Ireland, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. What spurred the “immigration boom” of the late 1800s?Potato famine in Ireland, political unrest in Germany, and deteriorating economic conditions across Europe spurred over 8 million immigrants to migrate to the New World in the single decade 1890-1900 alone. Were there any laws passed that restricted the influx of immigrants?A flurry of laws were passed over the period of 1921 – 1942, when the federal government began to realize that the massive upswing in population was largely due to the unchecked flow of immigrants. The first Immigration Quota Law of 1921 restricted the percentage of new immigrants of European descent allowed into the country. The Immigration Act of 1924 further reduced the quota to some 164,000 immigrants. This helped curb the alarming population upshoot, but marked the end of mass European immigration in America. How influential was immigration through Ellis Island on the cultural map of the United States?To this day, nearly half of the population of the United States can trace their roots to Ellis Island. Ellis Island played an integral role in the United States’ becoming the melting pot of cultures it is today. What is the Statue of Liberty?The Statue of Liberty is a copper statue of a robed woman holding a torch, popularly known as “Lady Liberty.” It was given to America by the French in 1886 to celebrate the centennial of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. What does the Statue of Liberty have to do with Ellis Island?The Statue, located on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, is adjacent to Ellis Island, and the monument was the first thing immigrants saw as they looked upon their new country for the first time. Since 1965 it has also been owned by the National Park Service and denoted as a national monument. What is the famous poem associated with the Statue?“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus, excerpted above, is inscribed on the interior of the pedestal. Many immigrants found this sonnet a great source of inspiration during their trying years establishing lives in a new country. The full sonnet reads: Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, Is the Statue of Liberty still in use today?While admission to the crown section ceased after
9/11, the Statue of Liberty is still open to the public, and daily
tours are offered of the museum and the Statue itself.
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