Ellis Island

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TIMELINE

1892 January 1st
Opening of the Immigration Building.

1897
Buildings destroyed by a fire

1917-1919
It served as a detention centre for enemy aliens. Hospital for the Army.

1924
Mass immigration ended. Immigrants were examined in their countries of origin.

1954 November 29th
The Immigration Building closed.

1965
Ellis Island was added to the Statue of Liberty National Monu ment.

1976
Ellis Island was opened to the public for limited seasonal visits.
(Film shot by Georges Perec and Robert Bober "Récits d'Ellis Island")

1984
Closed for a 6-year 162-million-dollar restoration.

1990 September 10th
The Ellis Island Immigration Museum opened with new exhibits.

MUSEUM

Audio and visual displays
Mutlitmedia technology
Printed material
Genealogical exploration
The American Immigration Wall of Honor
(Immigrants' names - $100 donation per name)
Documentary film : "Island of Hope, Island of Tears"
Silent Voices : an exhibit of artefacts and photos.

POEM on the STATUE of LIBERTY
The New Colossus (1883)
by Emma Lazarus

"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 the lamp beside the Golden Door."

Patrick's recording

"Laissez venir à moi vos pauvres harassés,
Vos masses entassées qui ont soif de liberté,
Misérables rebuts de vos rivages surpeuplés.
Envoyez-moi les sans-abri, les ballottés par la tempête.
Près de la porte d'or, je lève mon flambeau."

PHOTOS Click to enlarge

Bundles and suitcases

A typewriter used by inspectors

DIARIES
written by pupils from "classe 4è Européenne" (2004-5)

Instructions :
Imagine you were an immigrant in the 19th or 20th century arriving on Ellis Island.
Find a name, a nationality, a family background, your reasons for leaving your country, your trip and your inspection on Ellis Island.

Write one page from your diary : give information about yourself and your family, your impressions and insert a few photos.