Ben Lomond Manor House

Ellis Island part 1

The documentary tells of the voyages from abroad and of the immigrants' first contacts with American bureaucracy. Using period photographs and interviews, it offers a vibrant portrait of Ellis Island and of the first moment of the immigrant experience in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It is recommended for middle and high school students.

Curriculum Links: women's history, immigration history, geography, civics, American history, urban culture, civil rights, political science, civics. Ellis Island: Part 1

The first part of the series begins the history of America's most famous port of entry, the landmark island, which was the first taste of America for an approximately 13 million immigrants who entered the United States from the 1890s to the mid-1950s. Located just inside New York harbor with a view of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island was a symbol of hope and of great fear for immigrants from all over the world. Dreaming of a new life in the rapidly industrializing nation, the immigrants often spent most of their life savings on a steam ship ticket, arriving on Ellis Island with all their belongings in trunks and baskets. There, they faced immigration officials and public health physicians, forced to pass a series of physical and psychological examinations before gaining entry into America. Vocabulary: manifest, immigrant, indentured servant, steerage, steam ship, bureaucrat.

Discussion Questions:

1. "I remember the day before I left. I paraded around the school as the young boy going to America." What did this boy mean? What did America represent to the immigrants?

2. Why is Ellis Island considered a "legendary landmark"? What did the island mean to the immigrants? Why did the island and its buildings remain such strong, clear memories for the immigrants?

3. What about Ellis Island was frightening to the immigrants?

4. Who were the immigrants who came through Ellis Island ? Where did they come from? Why did they leave their homes to start over in America?

5. What was the trip across the Atlantic Ocean like in the late nineteenth century? How did it change by the 1920s? Describe what it was like to travel in steerage.

6. When were the first immigration laws passed by the U.S. Congress? How did the laws alter the immigrant experience?

7. Why did the U.S. government take on the responsibility for examining immigrants entering the U.S. in the 1880s? What were the conditions for exclusion? Why were these regulations instituted?

8. Why was the United States competing for immigrants? How did American industries attract immigrants?

9. How did native-born Americans respond to the massive growth in immigration in the late nineteenth century? How did they treat immigrants?

10. What was the manifest? What can scholars learn from the ships' passenger lists?

Research Activities:

1. Look for a copy of the famous poem by Emma Lazarus, which is carved on the base of the Statue of Liberty. Write an essay in which you analyze the poem, explain its meaning and consider its relevance for contemporary America. Why was that poem placed at the base of the Statue of Liberty? What was it designed to say about Amerca? Do you think the poem still represents Americans' attitudes toward immigration?

2. Look up the major immigration laws passed since the opening of Ellis Island and prepare an oral presentation in which you trace the shifts in legislation concerning immigration.

3. Interview someone you know-- a friend or a relative-- who immigrated to the United States. Ask that person about his or her experiences. How did he or she get to the U.S.? Why did they come? What city was his or her port of entry? Was his or her experience similar to or different from the experiences of immigrants who came through Ellis Island at the turn of the century?

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