On October 7th, the entire 4th grade headed to Ellis Island. After getting off the bus from Big Dalton right outside of Battery Park, we headed for the ferry that would take us to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. On the way over, the Statue of Liberty greeted us just as she might have welcomed immigrants 100 years ago. In the museum we saw exhibits that explained who came from where when, what they brought with them, and what inspection processes they went through. There were primary documents such as photographs, passports, ship manifests, tickets, postcards, and foreign money. We walked through the gigantic registry hall where new arrivals might have stood for hours before they were seen by an agents. We imagined what it would have sounded like with so many people speaking different languages. We even saw dormitories where those who were detained overnight would have slept.

Some of our students have relatives who came through Ellis Island and we looked for their names on the wall outside of the museum. Do you know someone who came through Ellis Island? Search for a passenger here!

Here are some other cool links:

• A history of Ellis Island
• A timeline of Ellis Island
• Stories of people doing genealogy research
• A history of immigration in America