Ellis Island Things to Do

This is easy to do from your home computer - On the Ellis Island site, I keyed in my grandmother's name and up popped the information with the name of the boat, date of arrival at Ellis Island, where exactly she came from in Verona, her health, color of hair and eyes, her U.S. destination and that my grandfather was waiting for her. Her children were listed separately on the ships manifest. Actual photos of the ships are sometimes available but none for my Grandmother.
If you use the on-site research facility - the American Family Immigration History Center, it hold records of 22 million immigrants, passengers and crewmembers who entered the Port of NY and Ellis Island from 1892-1924. 41 Computer terminals are available for your use containg documents that cover 11 fields: Immigrant's Given Name - Immigrant's Surname - Ethnicity - Last Residence (Town and Country) - Date of Arrival - Age Upon Arrival - Gender - Marital Status - Ship of Travel - Port of Departure - Line Number on Ship's Manifest.
It is very helpful if you have the correct spelling of the names. However, if you are there at Ellis Island and using the computer research room right there, the very knowledgable attendants can help you if names are misspelled. Consider also that if your family, for example, came from Serbia - the map was different at that time and they would have been under the auspices of the Austrian-Hungarian empire - most like documented as having come from Austria instead of Serbia.

This was the room where the immigrants were first placed and where their future would be decided. It was here that they were asked who they came with and how much money they brought with them. After determining their destination they were sent down the stairs of separation.

The stairs of separation gave me goosebumps. These are the stairs that millions of immigrants walked down and often were the place that separated them from their families, sometimes for the last time.

There is one main building on Ellis Island that is open for touring. They have an audio tour that is available for $6 a person. Many people did do this tour, but I skipped out on this considering I knew a lot about the place prior to visiting. There are also guided tours that are available. If you are like me and would like to explore the museum on your own I suggest viewing the map at the entrance and touring the museum by their "number" system that the museum is divided into.

If you look closely at one of the exhibits, you will see typewritten menus of what was served to immigrants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. One menu read beef stew-it was basically meat and potatoes type of meals. Women and children were also served milk and crackers. There was a beautiful picture of a man with a pail of milk, and the story was that he would go around and ring a bell. The children would come and gather around and he gave them warm milk, which made them so happy!

On the second floor is the registration room. At one time this room was filled with people waiting to pass through. They underwent physical and mental testing, as well. If there was something wrong, that person was marked with chalk and was not let through. Mistakes were made, though, as many immigrants did not speak English. This was interpreted as a mental ailment. The mental testing exhibit showed puzzles and other tests, such as questions. One person was asked "What is two plus two?" Another person, a girl, had been asked a different question: "How do you wash the stairs, from the top or from the bottom?" She answered, "I did not come to America to wash stairs."

Here is part of the wall, which lists the names of registered immigrants. Try to look up your family's name before you go, because there are a lot of names on the walls!! You may not be able to find it. I just got lucky, I think.

I was amazed by all the passports from all over the world. Some pics of entire families with tiny children. Here is one from Naples, 1922. It states that the woman was a housewife, who could read and write. Destinazione: New York!