On Wednesday, November 17th, the Denver Lake Norman Rotary took a step back in time with a presentation about Ellis Island. Jim Peskin, a current Tour Guide with the Save Ellis Island Foundation presented remotely. With additional commentary from Rotarian Bill Baker Jim presented an overview from the opening thru the closing of Ellis Island.
Ellis Island played a tremendous role in the building of the cultures that now exist in United States. There are many books and videos available that cover the times that Ellis Island shaped our lives. Some websites and Facebook locations are listed at the end of this article.
Ellis Island was named after the last private owner, Samuel Ellis. From 1892 to 1924, Ellis Island was America’s largest and most active immigration station. Over 12 million immigrants were processed here. To them, Ellis Island, was an Island of Hope. At its peak, over 500 workers were employed there. These included inspectors, interpreters, nurses, social workers, doctors, and many others.
When arriving, immigrants, were transferred into a room called “The Great Hall” and walked before a series of medical officers for a physical inspection. Due to the vast number of immigrants that were being processed, a new method to keep their lines orderly and moving was created. This method used lines that went up and down and across the room like a continuous letter "S". This method is still being used today in situations where there is a need to move a vast number of people through a line to a common entrance. Most of the immigrants were able to move on, but if doctors saw someone who they felt had some type of physical or mental, problem, they were chalked with a letter on their clothing and moved to another line for additional inspection. The chalked letters could be B (back problems), F (face problems), H (health problems), and several others. These marked immigrants were then given a detailed medical exam to determine the extent of their health. If it was determined that they were carrying a contagious disease, had mental health problems, criminal records, or low moral character they were returned to their country. Others were sent on the hospitals for treatment. Once the immigrants had been successfully medically treated for any minor diseases, they were re-examined and given permission to continue to The United States.
During its years of operation, 1892 to 1954, there were over 12 million immigrants processed on Ellis Island but the numbers each year varied:
1907 – 1,004,756 immigrants processed
1924 - 315,587 immigrants processed
1925 – 137,492 immigrants processed
The hospital treated a total of 416,196 patients with 5,431 recorded deaths. The hospital provided interpreters for those in the hospital and many of the nurses were able to speak at least two languages. Of the 12 million people who passed through Ellis Island only around 2 percent were found to be medically unfit to become a citizen of the United States. It is estimated that 40 percent of all Americans can trace their roots back to Ellis Island.
Multiple books and information are available on the Ellis Island www.ellisisland.com covering its the history between 1892 through 1954. There is a current restoration effort going on to restore the buildings with portions of the hospital having already been restored. On Wednesday, December 01st, Rotarian Bill Baker will speak to the club. Bill’s father was a Doctor on Ellis Island. Photos taken from the house that Bill lived in while his father worked on Ellis Island, have been used in books and on Facebook.