This paper will reflect over the immigrants who came to America during the late 1880’s through the early 1900’s. It will reflect over the struggles they had to achieve. It will reflect over the punishments and crimes they had to endure. It will reflect examples of this through books and history.
Ellis Island use to be an island where immigrants would come to enter into America. Ellis Island has a history that is rich and leaves an enchanting impact. While the island is now a museum, the memories and stories it carried remains presence. Ellis Island was the place where immigrants would from their homeland. Ellis Island is beyond huge. It held much different type of buildings that made up this island, but the part of this hospital is one that will be examined. A discussion of the history of Ellis Island as well as reflections of the people who came through Ellis Island is going to be reflected to give merit to one of the greatest historical marks. Through books and articles and stories, the story of Ellis Island begins.
America was growing in population due to the increase of immigrants. The first and second waves of immigrants as well as the Homestead Act of 1862played a role in the growth of the immigration. There were approximate twelve million immigrants that came to America between the years of 1892 through 1954. While there are a through and fourth immigrations waves as well, only the focus of the first and second wave of immigrants are examined.
According to the author Peter Mortor Coan, who wrote Ellis Island Interviews in Their Own Words, Coin state that the factors of laws regarding immigration also play a role in the different positions of America, through letters of their loves one who now live in America. To get to America, was a long hard process. Their arrival meant find a way to get onto the steamships. To aboard these boats, there was a price. Money had to be saved up to provide a ticket to an America for the tickets were expensive. Another way to afford these tickets is through negations. The negations would consist of someone playing for the immigration ticket and then the immigrant would be in debt to the person who pays for their ticket. The world in debt meaning the immigrant would have to pay off the balance of the ticket. Regardless of how a ticket was paid, the immigrants still found a way to come to America.
Ellis Island was a processing cent for immigrants. The previous processing center for immigrants was Crestline Castle. Cretile Castle practiced inhumane ways and cruel methods. Their doors were finally closed. Ellis Island has an even richer history, for before it was the processing center for immigrant, it was a previous military base.
Immigrants going through Ellis Island did not guarantee entrance to America. It was the determination of an Ellis Island immigration officer that decided an immigrations fate. These immigrant officers were looking for any type of diseases, deformity and for head lice. If the immigrant did not pass the inspection, they faced having to go back to their home land. This process of inspection was very critical.
According to the book Immigrants: The New Americans by the editors of Time Life Books, the author’s states this order was a frightening process for the immigrants. Time Lime Book states they would come of the ships and be greed in rude, unprofessional manner, then had to wait for hours, the maximum be five hours standing to get in. The book also states these ships would be over packed with immigrant. Can a person imagined having leave an individual homeland due to bad circumstances, travel in a tightly packed ship, arrived in America (the country of hope and opportunity) and have to stand for hours waiting? This type of treatment start putting daggers on the dreams of what America stands for. To make matters worse, these inspections officers had no patience for people not familiar with English.
While Ellis Island has a glimmer of good memories, it also holds additional bitter memories. The south side of Ellis Island is where the hospital was. It still remains, and the building holds ghostly sad reminders of the downsides of Ellis Island. According to the book by Stephen Wilkes, with an introduction by Senator Bill Bradley, Ellis Island Ghost of Freedom gives a different spin on Ellis Island through amazing pictures and with quotes from the immigrations that pass through Ellis Island. Before the pictures, there is an introduction by Bradley. In his introduction, Bradley, states the hospital was located on the south side of the Island. Bradley further states that the immigrants that were sick were put there. Bradley also mentions that some immigration never managed to heal and died there. Bradley further states by mentioning his admiration of Stephen Wilkes photography. Bradley states that Stephen Wilkes took for five years of this hospital. The images of the pictures of the book speak for themselves and give an idea of what Ellis Island was like during this time.
Bradley mentions that this island was abandoned for about fifty years before becoming a national landscape. Again, Bradley gives praises to the work of Wilke. For the states thee pictures saved Ellis Island from further destruction. In the author, not by Stephen Wilkes, he mentions what inspired him to do this work. Wilkes also states that he was working with New York Landmark Conservancy to create a video of what he captured on South Island. The video was given to our government and two year later, there was money set aside to preserve the South Side of the Island also known as Island 2 and Island 3.
In the book by Peter Morton Coan, there is a section on the employee experiences on working at Ellis Island. One of these employees’ descriptions was by Dr. James Baker. Dr. Baker was the director of the Neuropsychiatric Services from 1949 until 1951. In Dr. Barker’s statements, he states that there were few experiments of lobotomies being done as well electroshock experiments being done at the hospital. To my understanding, the ideology for doing these experiments were their way of “helping” those patients with the extreme case of mental illness and depression. Dr. Barker ends his personal experience, basically stating he enjoys his time there and he has no regret with what he did. While this is one individual perspective, this perceptive through the immigration life sheds a different life.
In the book of Coan, the readers are introduced to Father Flanagan, formerly known as Edward Joseph Flanagan, who was the Irish immigrant who came at age of twenty to America. The author states that Father Flanagan who later in life was the founder of Boy’s Town. In Father Flanagan story, he shares a different encounter of coming to America. He states that he came on the middle class section and had a great time on the ship to get to America. The author Coan states another immigrant story by the name of Friedrich Leipzpiz. Leipzi who states a different encounter on the ship. Leipzi states, “It was a freighter converted to handle a few passengers. But it had booked thirteen hundred. So accommodations were poor.” Leipzig also states, “I knew it was uncomforamtable, and I do not care. It was going to America!Some people jumped overboard as the time went on and some became sick and diedWe could only eat in shifts because there were too many people to eat and we hand two meas a day(Conan page 212.” There were many other stories that the author shares with the readers. Through these different encounters, there was a great deal of fear as well. There was also a great deal of sadness through these stories as well. But despite the many mention it brought hope. Hope is what the immigrants clung to. The year of 1954, the INS closed Ellis Island.
Ellis Island was abandoned for years and later through hard work become a national museum. The memories of Ellis Island are reflected through the people who were part of the Ellis Island. For the blood, sweat and tear of the immigrants that pass through Ellis Island, will always be reflected in this island. Through books, pictures, and stories, these incredible encounters will remain a legend, an inspiration, through history.
This is why an in deep history was given of Ellis Island was an island. To understand the crime and punishments that an immigrants faced when coming to America, it need to be reflected through the history. Again, the history of Ellis Island is very critical to understanding the hardships of what immigrants went through to come to America. This need to be understood for it part of history that should never be forgotten.
Maybe that is why the author Anzia Yezierska wrote her stellar book called the Bread Givers. This book is about a Jewish immigrant family. It is about a father who refused to work and was cruel to his daughters. It about one sister reaching for her dreams despite the obstacles faced being a Jewish young woman immigrant during this time. She did not want the life that was expected of her. She wanted to go college. She wanted to be her own women. It a book that awakens readers to what it was like during this period. Yezierska writing is so beautifully crafted it makes the readers feel they are transported back to this time period. By having a understanding of the struggles of the immigrations process through Ellis Island, readers can better understand why these dreams mean so much to her. Readers can better understand the sadness when their home condition is described and the poetry they live in. Most importantly, readers can understand the hope that the sisters from this book clung to. While one sister hope was in fantasy land, it was still hope. It was hope that remind readers of the hope that immigrants have coming through Ellis Island and looking for a better life.
Through stories of this book and other books it helps shows the experiences and the journeys that they went through. The work of the immigrations is the basis for the foundation for America. These stories are also told through documentaries, movies and television shows regarding this.
When the immigrants came to America, they value and cherish the fact of being here. They work hard and in most cases to hard. This is where one of the books by George Owen was written to describe the horrible working conditions that adults and children were being forced into. This book not only help bring insight but it help bring changed with the labor of law works.
People need to remember the stories of the immigrants, for again they are the backbone of the foundation of America. Without their hard work and dedication, we would not have the buildings we have today. There is also a true story of when the immigrants were forced to work and there was a fire that broke out. Because the building lacks the proper resources to handle a fire situation, several immigrant women died in the sewing building. Immigrants were not always welcome and treated with respected. They had to work to achieve the success they were dreaming about. As we all known, erasing people stereotypes can be hard thing to do.
The education system of the immigrants was the same as the adults. The children were teased harsh by their fellow classmates for being “different.” They were several cases that even the teachers treated the immigrant’s students unfairly. One of the most reasons why was because the immigrant had to learn the English language.
While this is judgment is going on, again people forget they were humans. Just as people forget about the history and importance of Ellis Island for 54 years. That is why it is needed to keep enforcing the lessons from the immigrants experiences to help achieved an understanding of the past.
There is also museum that has exhibits to help people learn the history of the immigrant’s experience. All of these learning changes need to be taken. People all need to remember the social and cultural traditions of society at time. That is another reason for the tensions between the immigrants and the citizens.
Again, there is no denying of the fruit of the labor of immigrants. Sadly, they work nearly 18 hours shift with no breaks and not properly pay. This left a lot of immigrants to be poor and resulted in them have shortage for food for the house. The myth of the father being the man of house was very noble concept. It was a concept people believed in and supported in.
The immigrants came to Ellis Island. An island that is filled with rich history. The immigrants left footprints on America and Ellis Island. Through their stories, books, and other information we can learn about the struggles of the immigrants. Through learning about the struggles we understand the crime and punishment they had to endure.
Works Cited
Coan Morton Peter. Ellis Island Interviews in Their Own Words. New York: Checkmark Books
Library of Congress Cataloging-in Publication Data, 1997. Print.
Goring, Rosemary. Dictionary of Literacy Characters: New York; Larousse; 1994, Print.
The New York Public Library Desk Reference. New York: A Strong strong Press Book Webster’s New World, 1989. Print.
Yezierska, Anzia. Bread Givers. New York: A Karen and Michael Braziller Book Peresa Books, 2003. Print.
Wilkes Stephen. Ellis Island, Ghost of Freedom: New York and London; Norton and Company
2006. Print
