Josie, 11, Marietta, OH
When you say Ellis Island, what do you think of? Probably an island where immigrants (a non-native person who comes to a country from another country to permanently settle there)
entered the U.S. for the first time. But there are a few things about Ellis Island that you might not know.
Ellis Island opened in New York in 1820 and closed in 1957. Immigrants would earn citizenship of the United States by going through a series of tests. If they passed, they could continue on to New York to make a living. If they didn’t, they had to go back to where they came from. This could happen because of illness, a criminal record, or for many other circumstances. For this reason, some people called Ellis Island the Island of Tears.
Ellis Island also had a double. It was called Angel Island. It opened up in 1910 and was off the coast of California, in San Francisco Bay. This one closed in 1940, 17 years before Ellis Island.
Another interesting thing to know about Ellis Island is the first immigrant to be accepted into the U.S., Annie Moore, was from Ireland and looking to start a new life with her brothers. They wouldn’t have been first if the woman in front of them hadn’t let them switch places with her.
So you can see, many of us have relatives that come from a different country in search of a new start. It is important to remember that some people didn’t get the privilege to come to the U.S., so the ones who did are very lucky.
Ellis Island is a historical place, and it has many interesting facts and stories to tell. Today it stands as a museum and you can visit it in New York.