(Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
Millions of immigrants and refugees arriving in the United States began their American experience in the same place: Ellis Island. Arriving there after weeks at sea in ‘steerage,’ the bottom of a ship where seasickness was common and sanitation poor, new immigrants passed by the Statue of Liberty, arrived at the port of New York and were then processed through the immigration center. They often had to stand in line for hours on end as officials checked their papers and recorded each passenger’s name, their age and place of origin.1 New immigrants also had health examinations in an attempt to prevent contagious diseases from spreading.2 Those who failed these inspections could be denied entry to the United States and sent back to Europe, a prospect which caused a great deal of fear and anxiety during the process. Sadie Rothstein was traveling to the United States in 1912 with her cousin’s fiancée, Betty Schwartz, to reunite with her mother who sent tickets for the voyage. Before boarding the ship, she got a splinter in her foot that became infected, “on the boat I was suffering terribly” she recounts.3 Both during their journey and upon arriving at Ellis Island on August 20, 1912, Betty Schwartz warned her to not say anything about her foot, “They will throw you into the water or they will send you back.”4 Sadie Rothstein tells of her fear of being sent back and as she walked off the boat and through the immigration center when she was questioned and her health inspected, “they examined me, but they didn’t examine my feet… I walked straight with that terrible foot, I made up my mind I’m going to the USA.”5 After passing the inspections, immigrants were allowed to board a ferry to the mainland after hours or even days on Ellis Island, and start their lives in the United States.
Immigrants view the Statue of Liberty as they arrived in New York harbor (top right). Immigrants landing at Ellis Island carrying all their belongings (top left). Inside the Ellis Island Immigrant processing center (bottom right). A US inspector giving an eye exam (bottom left). (Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division)
1. “Overview + History: Ellis Island,” Statue Of Liberty & Ellis Island, 2020, https://www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/overview-history/.
2. Ibid.
3. Sadie Rothstein Saltzman, “Oral History from The Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Oral History Library,” Interview by Kathy Connelly, in person. 1983. Tamid NYC, 2020. https://tamidnyc.org/61-ellis-island-coming-america/.
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.