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{{For|the island in Australia|Ellis Island (Queensland)}}
The [[Samuel J. LeFrak|Lefrak Organization]] obtained title to most of the disused rail beds and began the development of [[Newport, Jersey City|Newport]], centered around the [[Port Authority Trans Hudson]] (PATH) [[Pavonia/Newport (PATH station)|Pavonia Newport Station]]. North of the embankment a massive parking deck was constructed, while to the south [[Big box|big box]] stores went up, separating the older neighborhoods from waterfront. [[Harborside Financial Center]] was converted from it maritime use to an office center. The first segment of the [[Hudson-Bergen Light Rail]] opened in 2002, including the [[Harsimus Cove (HBLR station)|Harsimus Cove Station]] nearby the landmark [[Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse]]. Zoning in the form of [[WALDO]] (or Work and Live District Overlay) were unsuccessful in preserving and stimulating the creation of an arts district within the area where large warehouses still remained, and have given way the [[Powerhouse Arts District, Jersey City|Powerhouse Arts District]] and the construction of residential [[Highrise|highrises]].
{{Infobox protected area
| name = Ellis Island
| width = 300
| alt_name =
| iucn_category =
| photo = Ellis Island-27527.jpg
| photo_width = 350
| photo_caption = Ellis Island
| location = [[Jersey City]] & [[New York City]]
| coords = {{Coord|40|41|56.5|N|74|2|22.2|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| lat_d =
| lat_m =
| lat_s =
| lat_NS --
| long_d =
| long_m =
| long_s =
| long_EW =
| area =
| established = May 11, 1965 (as a national monument)
| visitation_num = 3,618,054 (includes Statue of Liberty NM)
| visitation_year = 2004
| governing_body = [[National Park Service]]
| url = http://www.nps.gov/elis/
}}<!-- Note: site is listed in IUCN database, but appears to conform with Category III -->


==Post industrial era==
[[Image:PRFountain.JPG||left|thumb|Fountain and Park on Second and Grove Street]]
In the late 1950's [[Container shipping]] in Newark supplanted railroad ports along the Jersey City Waterfront. After the loss of the shipping industry, downtown Jersey City saw a huge decline in population and economic activity. Following the lost of the railroads, Harsimus saw great change in name, demographics, and physical design. Urban renewal projects led to what was called slum clearance of tenements along [[Grove Street (Hudson County)|Grove Street]] in the 1960’s and 1970’s as well as the removal of elevated rail right of ways. During this time, the area saw a large influx of [[Puerto Rican]] and [[Filipino]] residents, which supplanted large Italian populations. The demographic and physical changes are reflected in the change of many street names. A section of [[Grove Street (Hudson County)|Grove Street]] was re-named [[Little Manila#New Jersey|Manila Avenue]] in recognition of the city's resident [[Overseas Filipino]]), Henderson Street (renamed [[Marin Boulevard]] for the first governor of [[Puerto Rico]] [[Luis Muñoz Marín]]), and Railroad Avenue (now Columbus Drive).


'''Ellis Island''' is an unihabited island in the [[Upper New York Bay]] that is known as a United States Immigration Station and is part of at the mouth of the [[Hudson River]] in [[New York Harbor]], is the location of what was from January 1, 1892, until November 12, 1954 the facility that replaced the state-run [[Castle Clinton|Castle Garden Immigration Depot]] (1855–1890) in [[Manhattan]]. It is owned by the Federal government and is now part of the [[Statue of Liberty National Monument]], under the jurisdiction of the US [[National Park Service]]. Ellis Island was also the subject of a border dispute between the states of New York and New Jersey ([[#Federal jurisdiction and state sovereignty dispute|see below]]). It is situated predominantly in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]], although a small portion of its territory falls within neighboring [[New York City]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2009}}
Despite renewal projects, many 19th century blocks were not demolished. Real estate reinvestment and historic preservation led to Harsimus’s designation as a [[Historic District]] in 1987.<ref>[http://www.harsimuscove.org/Images/HarsStreetMap.jpg Historic district map]</ref> Following preservation, reinvestment, and job growth in adjacent areas, the neighborhood began to [[gentrify]], and people of diverse backgrounds and incomes began to supplant the traditionally immigrant communities.


== History ==
Adjacent to the neighborhood, the [[Samuel J. LeFrak|Lefrak Organization]] obtained title to most of the disused rail beds and began the development of [[Newport, Jersey City|Newport]], centered around the [[Port Authority Trans Hudson]] (PATH) [[Pavonia/Newport (PATH station)|Pavonia Newport Station in the 1980s. To the south, [[Harborside Financial Center]] was converted from it maritime use to an office center. The first segment of the [[Hudson-Bergen Light Rail]] opened in 2002, including the [[Harsimus Cove (HBLR station)|Harsimus Cove Station]] nearby the landmark [[Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Powerhouse]].
{{See also|Immigration to the United States}}
Originally called Little Oyster Island,<ref>[http://events.nytimes.com/2006/03/01/books/01grim.html?fta=y ''New York Times''], March 1, 2006, accessed March 16, 2008</ref> Ellis Island acquired its name from Samuel Ellis, a colonial New Yorker, possibly from [[Wales]]. {{quote|TO BE SOLD<br />It was to be sold by Samuel Ellis, no. 1, Greenwich Street, at the north river near the Jewish Market, That pleasant situated Island called Oyster Island, lying in New Bay, near Powle's Hook, together with all its improvements which are considerable; also, two lots of ground, one at the lower end of Queen street, joining Luke's wharf, the other in Greenwich street, between Petition and Dey streets, and a parcel of spars for masts, yards, brooms, bowsprits, & c. and a parcel of timber fit for pumps and buildings of docks; and a few barrels of excellent shad and herrings, and others of an inferior quality fit for shipping; and a few thousand of red herring of his own curing, that he will warrant to keep good in carrying to any part of the world, and a quantity of twine which he sell very low, which is the best sort of twine, for tyke nets. Also a large Pleasure Sleigh, almost new.|Samuel Ellis advertising in London New York-Packet, 1778}}


[[File:Ellis Island video.ogg|Film by [[Edison Studios]] showing immigrants disembarking from the steam ferryboat ''William Myers'' onto Ellis Island on July 9, 1903. |200px|thumb|right]]
Today Harsimus continues to develop and redevelop as a residential and commercial neighborhood district adjacent to the rapidly changing Waterfront neighborhood, which continues to convert from industrial use to high-rise financial and residential use.
The Ellis Island Immigrant Station was designed by architects [[Edward Lippincott Tilton]] and [[William Alciphron Boring]]. They received a gold medal at the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|1900 Paris Exposition]] for the building's design. The architecture competition was the second under the [[Tarsney Act]] which had permitted private architects rather than government architects in the [[Office of the Supervising Architect]] to design federal buildings.<ref>Lee, Antoinette J., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=hjDZz87NF8AC&pg=PA197&dq=%22James+Knox+Taylor%22&sig=ACfU3U0hwyx1_8a6mNHwqC5a6zzs34_E6w#PPA197,M1 Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office]'', Oxford University Press, USA. 2000-04-20. ISBN 0-19-512822-2</ref>


The federal immigration station opened on January 1, 1892 and was closed on November 12, 1954, but not before 12 million immigrants were inspected there by the US Bureau of Immigration (Immigration and Naturalization Service). In the 35 years before Ellis Island opened, over 8 million immigrants had been processed locally by [[New York State]] officials at [[Castle Clinton|Castle Garden Immigration Depot]] in Manhattan.
[[www.hudsoncountynj.org/downloads/pdf/grmap.pdf]]
HP 1979
VV 1980
HC 1987
<ref>[http://www.state.nj.us/dep/hpo/1identify/lists/hudson.pdf NJ State Register of Historic Places in Hudson County]</ref>


1907 was the peak year for immigration at Ellis Island with 1,004,756 immigrants processed. The all-time daily high also occurred this year on April 17 which saw a total of 11,747 immigrants arrive.<ref name="Ellis Island Foundation, 2000">[http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_timeline.asp Ellis Island Timeline], Ellis Island Foundation, 2000.</ref>
{{reflist}}

[[Image:Ellis Island in 1905.jpg|thumb|left|Ellis Island in 1905]]
Those with visible health problems or diseases were sent home or held in the island's hospital facilities for long periods of time. Then they were asked 29 questions including name, occupation, and the amount of money they carried with them. Generally those immigrants who were approved spent from two to five hours at Ellis Island. However more than three thousand would-be immigrants died on Ellis Island while being held in the hospital facilities. Some unskilled workers were rejected outright because they were considered "likely to become a public charge." About 2 percent were denied admission to the U.S. and sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity.<ref>[http://www.nps.gov/stli/serv02.htm#Ellis National Park Service: Ellis Island], retrieved January 12, 2006.</ref>
Ellis Island was sometimes known as "The Island of Tears" or "Heartbreak Island"<ref>Davis, Kenneth (2003), ''Don't Know Much About American History,'' HarperTrophy, ISBN 0-06-440836-1 ("Isle of Tears" or "Heartbreak Island," p. 123)</ref> because of those 2% who were not admitted after the long transatlantic voyage.

Writer [[Louis Adamic]] came to America from [[Slovenia]] in southeastern Europe in 1913. Adamic described the night he spent on Ellis Island. He and many other immigrants slept on bunk beds in a huge hall. Lacking a warm blanket, the young man "shivered, sleepless, all night, listening to snores" and dreams "in perhaps a dozen different languages". The facility was so large that the dining room could seat 1,000 people.

During [[World War I]], the German sabotage of the [[Black Tom explosion|Black Tom Wharf]] ammunition depot damaged buildings on Ellis Island. The repairs included the current barrel-vaulted ceiling of the Main Hall. During the war, Ellis Island was used to intern German merchant mariners and enemy aliens as well as a processing center for returning sick and wounded U.S. soldiers. Ellis Island still managed to process tens of thousands of immigrants a year during this time, but much fewer than the hundreds of thousands a year who arrived before the war. After the war immigration rapidly returned to earlier levels.<ref name="Ellis Island Foundation, 2000" />

[[Image:Radicals awaiting deportation.jpg|thumb|Radicals awaiting deportation, 1920]]
Mass processing of immigrants at Ellis Island ended in 1924 after the [[Immigration Act of 1924]] greatly restricted immigration and allowed processing at overseas embassies. After this time Ellis Island became primarily a detention and deportation processing center.<ref name="Ellis Island Foundation, 2000" />

During and immediately following [[World War II]], Ellis Island served as Coast Guard training base and as an [[internment camp]] for [[enemy aliens]] - American civilians or immigrants detained for fear of spying, sabotage, etc. Some 7,000 Germans, Italians and Japanese would be detained at Ellis Island.<ref name="Ellis Island Foundation, 2000" />

The [[Internal Security Act of 1950]] barred members of Communist or Fascist organizations from immigrating to the U.S. Ellis Island saw detention peak at 1,500 but by 1952, after changes to immigration law and policies, only 30 detainees were present.<ref name="Ellis Island Foundation, 2000" /> In November 1954, Ellis Island was closed and unsuccessful attempts to redevelop the site began until its landmark status was established.

As with all historic areas administered by the [[National Park Service]], Ellis Island, along with [[Statue of Liberty]], was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] on October 15, 1966.

Today Ellis Island houses a museum reachable by ferry from [[Liberty State Park]] in [[Jersey City, New Jersey]] and from the southern tip of [[Manhattan]] in New York City. The [[Statue of Liberty]], sometimes thought to be on Ellis Island because of its symbolism as a welcome to immigrants, is actually on nearby [[Liberty Island]], which is about 1/2 mile to the south. There is also ferry service between the two islands.

=== Staff ===
[[Image:Ellis Island arrivals.jpg|thumb|Immigrants being processed, 1904]]

The following is a list of the station's commissioners:

# 1890–1893 [[John B. Weber|Colonel John B. Weber]] (Republican)
# 1893–1897 Dr. Joseph H. Senner (Democrat)
# 1897–1902 Thomas Fitchie (Republican)
# 1902–1905 William Williams (Republican)
# 1905–1909 Robert Watchorn (Republican)
# 1909–1913 William Williams (Republican) 2nd Term
# 1914–1919 Dr. [[Frederic C. Howe]] (Democrat)
# 1920–1921 Frederick A. Wallis (Democrat)
# 1921–1923 Robert E. Tod (Republican)
# 1923–1926 Henry C. Curran (Republican)
# 1926–1931 Benjamin M. Day (Republican)
# 1931–1934 Edward Corsi (Republican)
# 1934–1940 Rudolph Reimer (Democrat)
# 1940–1942 Byron H. Uhl
# 1942–1949 W. Frank Watkins
# 1949–1954 Edward J. Shaughnessy

Other notable officials at Ellis Island included Edward F. McSweeney (assistant commissioner), Joseph E. Murray (assistant commissioner), Dr. George W. Stoner (chief surgeon), [[Augustus Frederick Sherman]] (chief clerk), Dr. Victor Heiser (surgeon), Thomas W. Salmon (surgeon), Howard Knox (surgeon), Antonio Frabasilis (interpreter), Peter Mikolainis (interpreter), Maud Mosher (matron), [[Fiorello H. La Guardia]] (interpreter), and Philip Cowen (immigrant inspector).

Prominent amongst the missionaries and immigrant aid workers were Rev. Michael J. Henry and Rev. Anthony J. Grogan (Irish [[Catholic]]), Rev. Gaspare Moretto (Italian Catholic), Alma E. Mathews ([[Methodist]]), Rev. Georg Doring (German [[Lutheran]]), Rev. Joseph L'Etauche (Polish Catholic), Rev. Reuben Breed ([[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]]), Michael Lodsin ([[Baptist]]), Brigadier Thomas Johnson ([[Salvation Army]]), Ludmila K. Foxlee ([[YWCA]]), Athena Marmaroff ([[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]]), [[Alexander Harkavy]] ([[HIAS]]), Cecilia Greenstone and Cecilia Razovsky ([[National Council of Jewish Women]]).

Noted entertainers that performed for detained aliens and US and allied servicemen at the island included [[Ernestine Schumann-Heink]], [[Enrico Caruso]], [[Rudy Vallee]], [[Jimmy Durante]], [[Bob Hope]], and [[Lionel Hampton]] and his orchestra.

== Immigration ==
[[Image:Ellis Island immigration footage.ogg|thumb|left|Scenes at the Immigration Depot and a nearby dock on Ellis Island.]]
[[Image:AnnieMoore.jpg|thumb|right|Statue of [[Annie Moore (immigrant)|Annie Moore]] on Ellis Island.]]
More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. The first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was [[Annie Moore (immigrant)|Annie Moore]], a 15-year-old girl from [[Cork (city)|Cork]], Ireland, on January 1, 1892. She and her two brothers were coming to America to meet their parents, who had moved to New York two years prior. She received a greeting from officials and a $10 gold piece.<ref>[http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=1460&display_order=1&mini_id=1459 Ellis Island Timeline]. Retrieved April 21, 2007.</ref> The last person to pass through Ellis Island was a Norwegian merchant seaman by the name of Arne Peterssen in 1954. After 1924 when the [[National Origins Act]] was passed, the only immigrants to pass through there were displaced persons or war refugees.<ref>''The Brown Quarterly'', [http://brownvboard.org/brwnqurt/04-1/04-1a.htm Volume 4, No. 1 (Fall 2000): Ellis Island/Immigration Issue]</ref> Today, over 100 million Americans - 1/3 of the population - can trace their ancestry to the immigrants who first arrived in America through the island before dispersing to points all over the country.

[[Image:Ellis island 1902.jpg|thumb|[[Immigrant]]s arriving at Ellis Island, 1902]]
A myth persists that government officials on Ellis Island compelled immigrants to take new names against their wishes. In fact, no historical records bear this out. Federal immigration inspectors were under strict bureaucratic supervision and were more interested in preventing inadmissible aliens from entering the country (which they were held accountable for) rather than assisting them in trivial personal matters such as altering their names. In addition, the inspectors used the passenger lists given to them by the [[steamship]] companies to process each foreigner. These were the sole immigration records for entering the country and were prepared not by the U.S. Bureau of Immigration but by steamship companies such as the [[Cunard Line]], the [[White Star Line]] (which owned the ''[[RMS Titanic|Titanic]]''), the North German Lloyd Line, the [[Hamburg-Amerika Line]], the Italian Steam Navigation Company, the [[Red Star Line]], the [[Holland America Line]], the [[Austro-American Line]], and so forth.<ref>[http://149.101.23.2/graphics/aboutus/history/articles/nameessay.html US Dept of Justice] American Names / Declaring Independence, Marian L. Smith, INS Historian, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, last updated January 20, 2006, accessed May 22, 2007</ref> The Americanization of many immigrant families' surnames was for the most part adopted by the family after the immigration process, or by the second or third generation of the family after some assimilation into American culture. However many last names were altered slightly due to the disparity between English and other languages in the pronunciation of certain letters of the alphabet.<ref>"[http://life.familyeducation.com/genealogy/family-tree/45352.html The Effect of Immigration on Surnames]", FamilyEduction.com. Retrieved 2009-02-20. Excerpted from "The [[Complete Idiot's Guides|Complete Idiot's Guide]] to Genealogy" by Christine Rose and Kay Germain Ingalls, 2005.</ref>

=== Medical inspections ===
The [[United States Public Health Service]] operated an extensive medical service at the immigrant station called U.S. Marine Hospital Number 43; it was more widely known as the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital. It was the largest marine hospital in the nation. The station was staffed by uniformed military surgeons. They are best known for the role they played during line inspection, in which they employed unusual techniques such as the use of the buttonhook to examine aliens for signs of eye diseases (particularly, [[trachoma]]) and the use of a chalk mark code. The symbols below were [[chalk]]ed on the clothing of potentially sick immigrants following the six-second medical examination. The doctors would look at them as they climbed the stairs from the baggage area up to the Great Hall. Immigrants' behavior would be studied for difficulties in getting up the staircase. Some only entered the country by surreptitiously wiping the chalk marks off or by turning their clothes inside out.<ref>[http://www.geocities.com/musetti.geo/chalk.htm Ellis Island Chalk Marks]. Retrieved April 21, 2007.</ref>
[[Image:Ellis Island dormitory room.JPG|thumb|Dormitory room for detained immigrants]]
* '''B''' – [[Back]]
* '''C''' - [[Conjunctivitis]]
* '''CT''' – [[Trachoma]]
* '''E''' – [[Eyes]]
* '''F''' – [[Face]]
* '''FT''' – [[Foot|Feet]]
* '''G''' – [[Goiter]]
* '''H''' – [[Heart]]
* '''K''' – [[Hernia]]
* '''L''' – [[Lameness]]
* '''N''' – [[Neck]]
* '''P''' – [[Physical examination|Physical]] and [[Lungs]]
* '''PG''' – [[Pregnancy]]
* '''S''' – [[Senility]]
* '''SC''' – [[Scalp]] ([[Favus]])
* '''SI''' – Special [[Inquiry]]
* '''X''' – Suspected [[Mental disorder|Mental defect]]
* '''X (circled)''' – Definite signs of Mental defect

=== Notable immigrants ===
Ellis Island immigrants attaining success in America include:
*Novelist [[Isaac Asimov]] (Russia)
*Bodybuilder [[Charles Atlas]] (Italy)
*Former New York City mayor [[Abraham Beame]] (England)
*Author and illustrator [[Ludwig Bemelmans]] (Austria)
*Composer [[Irving Berlin]] (Belarus)
*Chef [[Ettore Boiardi]] ([[Chef Boyardee]]) (Italy)
*Singer and actress [[Irène Bordoni]] (Italy)
*Film director [[Frank Capra]] (Italy)
*Actress [[Claudette Colbert]] (France)
*Musician and bandleader [[Xavier Cugat]] (Spain)
*Former San Francisco mayor [[George Christopher]] (Greece)
*Actor [[Karl Dane]] (Denmark)
*Cosmetologist [[Max Factor, Sr.|Max Factor]] (Poland)
*Priest [[Father Flanagan]] (Ireland)
*Jurist [[Felix Frankfurter]] (Austria)
*Comedian [[Bob Hope]] (England)
*Painter [[Arshile Gorky]] (Armenia)
*Actor [[Cary Grant]] (England)
*Nutrition and diet guru [[Gayelord Hauser]] (Germany)
*Pop singer and actor [[Dick Haymes]] (Argentina)
*Gymnast [[Sven Johnson]] (Sweden)
*Aviator [[Hubert Julian]] (Trinidad and Tobago)
*Tin Pan Alley lyricist [[Gus Kahn]] (Germany)
*Billionaire [[John Kluge]] (Germany)
*Wrestler [[Dan Kolov]] (Bulgaria)
*Harpsichordist [[Wanda Landowska]] (Poland)
*Gangster [[Lucky Luciano]] (Italy)
*Actor [[Béla Lugosi]] (Hungary)
*Tenor and opera singer [[John McCormack (tenor)|John McCormack]] (Ireland)
*Harlem Renaissance poet and novelist [[Claude McKay]] (Jamaica)
*First immigrant processed at Ellis Island [[Annie Moore (immigrant)|Annie Moore]] (Ireland)
*Actor [[Antonio Moreno]] (Spain)
*New Age writer and lecturer Dr. [[Joseph Murphy (author)]] (Ireland)
*Dancing studio legend [[Arthur Murray]] (Austria-Hungary)
*Actress [[Pola Negri]] (Poland)
*Actress [[Anna Q. Nilsson]] (Sweden)
*Actress [[Rafaela Ottiano]] (Italy)
*Opera singer [[Ezio Pinza]] (Italy)
*Football coach [[Knute Rockne]] (Norway)
*Imposter and restaurateur [[Michael Romanoff]] (Lithuania)
*Comedian [[Sig Ruman]] (Germany)
*US Congressman [[Dalip Singh Saund]] (India)
*Painter [[Ben Shahn]] (Lithuania)
*Film executive [[Spyros Skouras]] (Greece)
*Painter [[Joseph Stella]] (Italy)
*World War II sergeant [[Michael Strank]] (Slovakia)
*Director and actor [[Erich von Stroheim]] (Austria)
*Composer [[Jule Styne]] (England)
*[[Maria von Trapp|The Trapp Family Singers]] (Austria)
*Actor [[Rudolph Valentino]] (Italy)
*Social Innovator and Spiritual Leader Dr.[[Abraham Vereide]] (Norway)
*Olympic swimming medalist and actor [[Johnny Weissmuller]] (Austria-Hungary)
*Novelist [[Anzia Yezierska]] (Poland)
*Comedian and violinist [[Henny Youngman]] (England)

== Museum ==
[[File:ellis island immigration museum entrance.JPG|thumb|left|Front entrance]]
[[File:ellis island immigration museum hall.JPG|thumb|upright|The hall where immigrants used to be processed]]

A bridge connects Ellis Island with Liberty State Park in Jersey City. It was built during the restoration of the island and heavy trucks went across it. In 1995 proposals were made either to open it to pedestrians or to build a new bridge for pedestrians. They were defeated by two vested interests: the City of New York and the private operator of the only boat service to the island, the Circle Line. The supposedly inadequate bridge is still in use but closed to the public.<ref>Setha Low, Dana Taplin, Suzanne Sheld (2005),[http://books.google.com/books?id=cUhYBCSAYIEC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPP1,M1 Rethinking Urban Parks]'', [[University of Texas Press]]; chapter 4.</ref>

There is a "Wall of Honor" outside of the main building. A myth is that it lists all of the immigrants processed there. It is actually a wall giving people the opportunity to make a donation to honor any immigrant into the United States.

[[Boston]] based architecture firm [[Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc]], together with the [[New York]] architectural firm [[Beyer Blinder Belle]], designed the restoration and adaptive use of the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] Main Building, one of the most symbolically important structures in American history. A construction budget of$150 million was required for this significant restoration. This money was raised by a grassroots campaign organized by the political fundraiser [[Wyatt A. Stewart]].<ref name =IFES> {{cite press release| publisher = International Foundation for Electoral Systems|date=30 November 2009 | url = http://www.ifes.org/publication/ae70d81d78fa5026d8fca4e6fb92b5c3/Stewart_PR.pdf | title = World’s Premier Election Assistance NGO Appoints Chief Operating Officer: Top Republican strategist and fundraiser Wyatt A. Stewart, III to join the International Foundation for Electoral Systems| accessdate = December 5, 2009}}</ref> The building was opened to the public on September 10, 1990.

As part of the National Park Service's Centennial Initiative, the south side of the island will be the target of a project to restore the 28 buildings that have not yet been rehabilitated.<ref>{{cite web |last=Bomar |first=Mary A. |authorlink=Mary A. Bomar |title=Summary of Park Centennial Strategies |publisher=National Park Service |month=August |year=2007 |url=http://www.nps.gov/2016/assets/files/Summary-of-Park-Centennial-Strategies.pdf |format=PDF |accessdate=2008-02-15}}</ref>

In 2008, the Museum's Library was officially named The Bob Hope Memorial Library in honor of one the station's most famous immigrants.

== In film ==
Ellis Island attracted the imagination of filmmakers as long ago as the silent era. Early films featuring the station include ''Traffic in Souls'' (1913); ''The Yellow Passport'' (1916), starring Clara Kimbell Young; ''My Boy'' (1921), starring Jackie Coogan; Frank Capra's ''The Strong Man'' (1926), starring Harry Langdon; ''We Americans'' (1928), starring John Boles; ''Ellis Island'' (1936), starring Donald Cook; ''Gateway'' (1938), starring Don Ameche; and ''Exile Express'' (1939), which starred Anna Sten.

The island was a scene used in the 2005 feature film romantic comedy, ''[[Hitch (movie)|Hitch]]'', starring [[Will Smith]], in which his and [[Eva Mendes]]' characters take a [[jet ski]] to the island and explore the building.

The IMAX 3D movie, [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112286/ ''Across the Sea of Time''], about the New York immigrant experience, incorporates both modern footage and historical photographs of Ellis Island.

Ellis Island as a port of entry to the United States of America is described in detail in ''[[Mottel the Cantor's Son]]'' by [[Sholom Aleichem]]. It is also the place where [[Don Corleone]] was held as an immigrant boy in ''[[The Godfather Part II]]'', where he was marked with an encircled X.

In the film ''[[X-Men (film)|X-Men]]'', a [[UN]] summit held on the island is targeted by [[Magneto (comics)|Magneto]], a former immigrant who attempts to artificially mutate all the delegates present.

The opening scene of ''[[Brother From Another Planet]]'' takes place on Ellis Island.

The 2006 Italian movie ''[[Nuovomondo|The Golden Door]]'', (directed by [[Emanuele Crialese]]) takes place largely at Ellis Island.

A documentary on the hospital at Ellis Island was created by [[Lorie Conway]].

== Federal jurisdiction and state sovereignty dispute ==
According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the island, which was largely artificially created through [[Land reclamation|landfill]], has an official land area of 129,619 square meters, or 32 [[acre]]s, more than 83 percent of which lies in the city of Jersey City. The natural portion of the island, lying in [[New York City]], is 21,458 square meters (5.3 acres), and is completely surrounded by the artificially created portion. For New York State tax purposes it is assessed as Manhattan Block 1, Lot 201. Since 1998, it also has a tax number assigned by the state of [[New Jersey]].
[[Image:Ellis island air photo.jpg|thumb|right|Overview before restoration;
the now-restored side is the north side, or right half of the island. Piers of [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]] are in the background.]]
On October 15, 1965, Ellis Island was proclaimed a part of [[Statue of Liberty National Monument]], which is managed by the [[National Park Service]]. The island is entirely on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. During the colonial period, however, New York had taken possession, and New Jersey had acquiesced in that action. In a compact between the two states, approved by [[Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress]] in 1834, New Jersey therefore agreed that New York would continue to have exclusive jurisdiction over what was the territory of the island at that time.

Thereafter, however, the federal government expanded the island by [[Land reclamation#Creating new land|landfill]], so that it could accommodate the immigration station that opened in 1892 (and closed in November 1954). Landfilling continued until 1934. Nine-tenths of the current area is [[artificial island]] that did not exist at the time of the interstate compact.

New Jersey contended that the new extensions were part of New Jersey, since they were not part of the previous cession. New Jersey eventually filed suit to establish its jurisdiction, leading New York City Mayor [[Rudolph Giuliani]] to remark dramatically that his father, an Italian who immigrated through Ellis Island, never intended to go to New Jersey.<ref>Sheahan, Matthew. ''[http://www.knotmag.com/?article=1291 "My Grandmother Is the Greatest"]'', Knot Magazine, May 4, 2004.</ref>

The dispute eventually reached the [[Supreme Court of the United States]], which ruled in 1998 that New Jersey had jurisdiction over all portions of the island created after the original compact was approved (effectively, more than 80% of the island's present land). This caused several immediate confusions: some buildings, for instance, fell into the territory of both states. New Jersey and New York soon agreed to share claims to the island. It remains wholly a Federal property, however, and these legal decisions do not result in either state taking any fiscal or physical responsibility for the maintenance, preservation, or improvement of any of the historic properties.

== See also ==
{{portalbox
| name1 = New York City
| image1 = Flag of New York City.svg
| name2 = New Jersey
| image2 = Flag_of_New_Jersey.svg
}}

* [[Annie Moore (immigrant)|Annie Moore]]
* [[Geography of New York Harbor]]
* [[Hoffman Island]]
* [[Kissing Post]]
* [[Liberty Island]]
* [[List of museums and cultural institutions in New York City]]
* [[List of Registered Historic Places in Hudson County, New Jersey]]
* [[Save Ellis Island]]
* [[Statue of Liberty]]
* [[Angel Island, California]]

== Notes ==
{{refs|2}}

== References ==
{{refbegin}}
* [http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DTTable?_bm=y&-show_geoid=Y&-tree_id=4001&-_caller=geoselect&-context=dt&-errMsg=&-all_geo_types=N&-mt_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U_P001&-redoLog=true&-transpose=N&-search_map_config=|b=50|l=en|t=4001|zf=0.0|ms=sel_00dec|dw=0.008884371962461743|dh=0.0050482751198916735|dt=gov.census.aff.domain.map.EnglishMapExtent|if=gif|cx=-74.04037740331228|cy=40.69886116280115|zl=1|pz=1|bo=318:317:316:314:313:323:319|bl=362:393:358:357:356:355:354|ft=350:349:335:389:388:332:331|fl=381:403:204:380:369:379:368|g=01000US&-PANEL_ID=p_dt_geo_map&-_lang=en&-penisgeo_id=100$10000US340170047009019&-geo_id=100$10000US340170047009020&-geo_id=100$10000US340170047009021&-geo_id=100$10000US340170047009022&-geo_id=100$10000US340170047009023&-geo_id=100$10000US360610001001000&-CONTEXT=dt&-format=&-search_results=100$10000US340170047009995&-ds_name=DEC_2000_SF1_U Ellis Island: Blocks 9019 thru 9023, Block Group 9, Census Tract 47, Hudson County, NJ; and Block 1000, Block Group 1, Census Tract 1], New York County, NY; United States Census Bureau.
* ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=LYITAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPP9,M1 Report of the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization under joint resolution of Senate and House of January 29, 1892]'', submitted by Mr. Stump. Ordered to be printed July 28, 1892. By United States Congress, House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization.
* Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=7r3U_KuP_Q0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPP1,M1 Personal Justice Denied]'', 1982 report;
*{{cite video |people=Encyclopaedia Britannica Films, Inc |date=1946 |title=Immigration |url=http://www.archive.org/details/Immigrat1946 |format= |medium=Documentary |publisher=[[Internet Archive]] |location= |accessdate=2009-01-20 |time=10:22 |quote=Archive film contains scenes of Ellis Island and New York City in the early 20th century.}}
*{{cite video |people=Guggenheim, Charles (director) |date=1989 |title=Island of Hope - Island of Tears |url=http://www.archive.org/details/gov.ntis.ava15996vnb1 |format= |medium=Documentary |publisher=National Park Service |location= |accessdate=2009-01-20 |time=28:24 |quote=From 1892–1954, Ellis Island was the port of entry for millions of European immigrants. Fascinating archival footage tells the moving story of families with dreams of opportunity, leaving their homes with what they could carry.}}
{{refend}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|2}}
* Baur, J. ''[http://www.domit.de/pdf/Baur_Commemorating_Immigration.pdf Commemorating Immigration in the Immigrant Society. Narratives of Transformation at Ellis Island and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum]'', in: König, M./Ohliger, R. (ed.), Enlarging European Memory. Migration Movements in Historical Perspective, 2006, 137-146.
* Baur, J. ''Ellis Island, Inc.: The Making of an American Site of Memory'', in: Grabbe, H. J./Schindler, S. (ed.), The Merits of Memory. Concepts, Contexts, Debates, 2008, 185-196.
* Coan, P. M. ''Ellis Island Interviews: In Their Own Words'', 1998.
* Conway, L. ''Forgotten Ellis Island'', 2007.
* Corsi, E. ''In the Shadow of Liberty: The Chronicle of Ellis Island'', 1935.
* Fairchild, A. ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=SJTtOyde_QQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPP1,M1 Science at the Borders]'', 2004.
* Moreno, B., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=a5QPa2k2ko8C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPP1,M1 Images of America:Children of Ellis Island]'', 2005.
* Moreno, B., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=4phC-hWgtzsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPP1,M1 Images of America:Ellis Island]'', 2003.
* Moreno, B., ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=qIFMxmnWqBkC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPP1,M1 Images of America:Ellis Island's Famous Immigrants]'', 2008.
* Moreno, B. ''Encyclopedia of Ellis Island'', 2004. [http://www.books.google.com/books?id=mRgWAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Encyclopedia+of+Ellis+Island%22&dq=%22Encyclopedia+of+Ellis+Island%22&ei=TWghS7aOBJPsyATH56nWCg&cd=1; Google Books Research] updated and revised edition, August 2010
* Novotny, A. ''Strangers at the Door'', 1971.
* Pitkin, T.M. ''Keepers of the Gate'', 1975.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.nps.gov/elis/ Ellis Island home page]
* [http://nyharborparks.org/visit/elis.html Ellis Island] Visitor information
* [http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_timeline.asp Ellis Island Historical Timeline]
* [http://www.historychannel.com/ellisisland/timeline/index.html Ellis Island timeline]
* [http://www.ellisisland.com/ Ellis Island Immigration Museum]
* [http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/ Free Search of Ellis Island Database - Port of New York Arrivals 1892–1924]
* [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=120ORIG Supreme Court opinion in ''New Jersey v. New York'' (1998)]
* [http://www.nps.gov/elis/planyourvisit/maps.htm National Park Service map showing portions of the island belonging to New York and New Jersey]
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hh:@field(NUMBER+@band(NY1252)) American Memory from the Library of Congress]
* [http://www.ancestry.com/learn/library/article.aspx?article=3893 The Myth of Ellis Island Name Changes]





[[ca:Ellis Island]]
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[[es:Isla Ellis]]
[[eo:Insulo Ellis]]
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[[ko:엘리스 섬]]
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[[he:אליס איילנד]]
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Revision as of 09:10, 1 April 2010

For the island in Australia, see Ellis Island (Queensland).
Ellis Island
Ellis Island
LocationJersey City & New York City
Coordinates40°41′56.5″N 74°2′22.2″W / 40.699028°N 74.039500°W / 40.699028; -74.039500
Width300
EstablishedMay 11, 1965 (as a national monument)
Visitors3,618,054 (includes Statue of Liberty NM) (in 2004)
Governing bodyNational Park Service
www.nps.gov/elis/


Ellis Island is an unihabited island in the Upper New York Bay that is known as a United States Immigration Station and is part of at the mouth of the Hudson River in New York Harbor, is the location of what was from January 1, 1892, until November 12, 1954 the facility that replaced the state-run Castle Garden Immigration Depot (1855–1890) in Manhattan. It is owned by the Federal government and is now part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument, under the jurisdiction of the US National Park Service. Ellis Island was also the subject of a border dispute between the states of New York and New Jersey (see below). It is situated predominantly in Jersey City, New Jersey, although a small portion of its territory falls within neighboring New York City.[citation needed]

History

See also: Immigration to the United States

Originally called Little Oyster Island,[1] Ellis Island acquired its name from Samuel Ellis, a colonial New Yorker, possibly from Wales.

TO BE SOLD
It was to be sold by Samuel Ellis, no. 1, Greenwich Street, at the north river near the Jewish Market, That pleasant situated Island called Oyster Island, lying in New Bay, near Powle's Hook, together with all its improvements which are considerable; also, two lots of ground, one at the lower end of Queen street, joining Luke's wharf, the other in Greenwich street, between Petition and Dey streets, and a parcel of spars for masts, yards, brooms, bowsprits, & c. and a parcel of timber fit for pumps and buildings of docks; and a few barrels of excellent shad and herrings, and others of an inferior quality fit for shipping; and a few thousand of red herring of his own curing, that he will warrant to keep good in carrying to any part of the world, and a quantity of twine which he sell very low, which is the best sort of twine, for tyke nets. Also a large Pleasure Sleigh, almost new.

— Samuel Ellis advertising in London New York-Packet, 1778
Film by Edison Studios showing immigrants disembarking from the steam ferryboat William Myers onto Ellis Island on July 9, 1903.

The Ellis Island Immigrant Station was designed by architects Edward Lippincott Tilton and William Alciphron Boring. They received a gold medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition for the building's design. The architecture competition was the second under the Tarsney Act which had permitted private architects rather than government architects in the Office of the Supervising Architect to design federal buildings.[2]

The federal immigration station opened on January 1, 1892 and was closed on November 12, 1954, but not before 12 million immigrants were inspected there by the US Bureau of Immigration (Immigration and Naturalization Service). In the 35 years before Ellis Island opened, over 8 million immigrants had been processed locally by New York State officials at Castle Garden Immigration Depot in Manhattan.

1907 was the peak year for immigration at Ellis Island with 1,004,756 immigrants processed. The all-time daily high also occurred this year on April 17 which saw a total of 11,747 immigrants arrive.[3]

Ellis Island in 1905

Those with visible health problems or diseases were sent home or held in the island's hospital facilities for long periods of time. Then they were asked 29 questions including name, occupation, and the amount of money they carried with them. Generally those immigrants who were approved spent from two to five hours at Ellis Island. However more than three thousand would-be immigrants died on Ellis Island while being held in the hospital facilities. Some unskilled workers were rejected outright because they were considered "likely to become a public charge." About 2 percent were denied admission to the U.S. and sent back to their countries of origin for reasons such as chronic contagious disease, criminal background, or insanity.[4] Ellis Island was sometimes known as "The Island of Tears" or "Heartbreak Island"[5] because of those 2% who were not admitted after the long transatlantic voyage.

Writer Louis Adamic came to America from Slovenia in southeastern Europe in 1913. Adamic described the night he spent on Ellis Island. He and many other immigrants slept on bunk beds in a huge hall. Lacking a warm blanket, the young man "shivered, sleepless, all night, listening to snores" and dreams "in perhaps a dozen different languages". The facility was so large that the dining room could seat 1,000 people.

During World War I, the German sabotage of the Black Tom Wharf ammunition depot damaged buildings on Ellis Island. The repairs included the current barrel-vaulted ceiling of the Main Hall. During the war, Ellis Island was used to intern German merchant mariners and enemy aliens as well as a processing center for returning sick and wounded U.S. soldiers. Ellis Island still managed to process tens of thousands of immigrants a year during this time, but much fewer than the hundreds of thousands a year who arrived before the war. After the war immigration rapidly returned to earlier levels.[3]

Radicals awaiting deportation, 1920

Mass processing of immigrants at Ellis Island ended in 1924 after the Immigration Act of 1924 greatly restricted immigration and allowed processing at overseas embassies. After this time Ellis Island became primarily a detention and deportation processing center.[3]

During and immediately following World War II, Ellis Island served as Coast Guard training base and as an internment camp for enemy aliens - American civilians or immigrants detained for fear of spying, sabotage, etc. Some 7,000 Germans, Italians and Japanese would be detained at Ellis Island.[3]

The Internal Security Act of 1950 barred members of Communist or Fascist organizations from immigrating to the U.S. Ellis Island saw detention peak at 1,500 but by 1952, after changes to immigration law and policies, only 30 detainees were present.[3] In November 1954, Ellis Island was closed and unsuccessful attempts to redevelop the site began until its landmark status was established.

As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, Ellis Island, along with Statue of Liberty, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

Today Ellis Island houses a museum reachable by ferry from Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey and from the southern tip of Manhattan in New York City. The Statue of Liberty, sometimes thought to be on Ellis Island because of its symbolism as a welcome to immigrants, is actually on nearby Liberty Island, which is about 1/2 mile to the south. There is also ferry service between the two islands.

Staff

Immigrants being processed, 1904

The following is a list of the station's commissioners:

  1. 1890–1893 Colonel John B. Weber (Republican)
  2. 1893–1897 Dr. Joseph H. Senner (Democrat)
  3. 1897–1902 Thomas Fitchie (Republican)
  4. 1902–1905 William Williams (Republican)
  5. 1905–1909 Robert Watchorn (Republican)
  6. 1909–1913 William Williams (Republican) 2nd Term
  7. 1914–1919 Dr. Frederic C. Howe (Democrat)
  8. 1920–1921 Frederick A. Wallis (Democrat)
  9. 1921–1923 Robert E. Tod (Republican)
  10. 1923–1926 Henry C. Curran (Republican)
  11. 1926–1931 Benjamin M. Day (Republican)
  12. 1931–1934 Edward Corsi (Republican)
  13. 1934–1940 Rudolph Reimer (Democrat)
  14. 1940–1942 Byron H. Uhl
  15. 1942–1949 W. Frank Watkins
  16. 1949–1954 Edward J. Shaughnessy

Other notable officials at Ellis Island included Edward F. McSweeney (assistant commissioner), Joseph E. Murray (assistant commissioner), Dr. George W. Stoner (chief surgeon), Augustus Frederick Sherman (chief clerk), Dr. Victor Heiser (surgeon), Thomas W. Salmon (surgeon), Howard Knox (surgeon), Antonio Frabasilis (interpreter), Peter Mikolainis (interpreter), Maud Mosher (matron), Fiorello H. La Guardia (interpreter), and Philip Cowen (immigrant inspector).

Prominent amongst the missionaries and immigrant aid workers were Rev. Michael J. Henry and Rev. Anthony J. Grogan (Irish Catholic), Rev. Gaspare Moretto (Italian Catholic), Alma E. Mathews (Methodist), Rev. Georg Doring (German Lutheran), Rev. Joseph L'Etauche (Polish Catholic), Rev. Reuben Breed (Episcopal), Michael Lodsin (Baptist), Brigadier Thomas Johnson (Salvation Army), Ludmila K. Foxlee (YWCA), Athena Marmaroff (Woman's Christian Temperance Union), Alexander Harkavy (HIAS), Cecilia Greenstone and Cecilia Razovsky (National Council of Jewish Women).

Noted entertainers that performed for detained aliens and US and allied servicemen at the island included Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Enrico Caruso, Rudy Vallee, Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope, and Lionel Hampton and his orchestra.

Immigration

Scenes at the Immigration Depot and a nearby dock on Ellis Island.
File:AnnieMoore.jpg
Statue of Annie Moore on Ellis Island.

More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. The first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island was Annie Moore, a 15-year-old girl from Cork, Ireland, on January 1, 1892. She and her two brothers were coming to America to meet their parents, who had moved to New York two years prior. She received a greeting from officials and a $10 gold piece.[6] The last person to pass through Ellis Island was a Norwegian merchant seaman by the name of Arne Peterssen in 1954. After 1924 when the National Origins Act was passed, the only immigrants to pass through there were displaced persons or war refugees.[7] Today, over 100 million Americans - 1/3 of the population - can trace their ancestry to the immigrants who first arrived in America through the island before dispersing to points all over the country.

Immigrants arriving at Ellis Island, 1902

A myth persists that government officials on Ellis Island compelled immigrants to take new names against their wishes. In fact, no historical records bear this out. Federal immigration inspectors were under strict bureaucratic supervision and were more interested in preventing inadmissible aliens from entering the country (which they were held accountable for) rather than assisting them in trivial personal matters such as altering their names. In addition, the inspectors used the passenger lists given to them by the steamship companies to process each foreigner. These were the sole immigration records for entering the country and were prepared not by the U.S. Bureau of Immigration but by steamship companies such as the Cunard Line, the White Star Line (which owned the Titanic), the North German Lloyd Line, the Hamburg-Amerika Line, the Italian Steam Navigation Company, the Red Star Line, the Holland America Line, the Austro-American Line, and so forth.[8] The Americanization of many immigrant families' surnames was for the most part adopted by the family after the immigration process, or by the second or third generation of the family after some assimilation into American culture. However many last names were altered slightly due to the disparity between English and other languages in the pronunciation of certain letters of the alphabet.[9]

Medical inspections

The United States Public Health Service operated an extensive medical service at the immigrant station called U.S. Marine Hospital Number 43; it was more widely known as the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital. It was the largest marine hospital in the nation. The station was staffed by uniformed military surgeons. They are best known for the role they played during line inspection, in which they employed unusual techniques such as the use of the buttonhook to examine aliens for signs of eye diseases (particularly, trachoma) and the use of a chalk mark code. The symbols below were chalked on the clothing of potentially sick immigrants following the six-second medical examination. The doctors would look at them as they climbed the stairs from the baggage area up to the Great Hall. Immigrants' behavior would be studied for difficulties in getting up the staircase. Some only entered the country by surreptitiously wiping the chalk marks off or by turning their clothes inside out.[10]

Dormitory room for detained immigrants

Notable immigrants

Ellis Island immigrants attaining success in America include:

Museum

Front entrance
The hall where immigrants used to be processed

A bridge connects Ellis Island with Liberty State Park in Jersey City. It was built during the restoration of the island and heavy trucks went across it. In 1995 proposals were made either to open it to pedestrians or to build a new bridge for pedestrians. They were defeated by two vested interests: the City of New York and the private operator of the only boat service to the island, the Circle Line. The supposedly inadequate bridge is still in use but closed to the public.[11]

There is a "Wall of Honor" outside of the main building. A myth is that it lists all of the immigrants processed there. It is actually a wall giving people the opportunity to make a donation to honor any immigrant into the United States.

Boston based architecture firm Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc, together with the New York architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle, designed the restoration and adaptive use of the Beaux-Arts Main Building, one of the most symbolically important structures in American history. A construction budget of$150 million was required for this significant restoration. This money was raised by a grassroots campaign organized by the political fundraiser Wyatt A. Stewart.[12] The building was opened to the public on September 10, 1990.

As part of the National Park Service's Centennial Initiative, the south side of the island will be the target of a project to restore the 28 buildings that have not yet been rehabilitated.[13]

In 2008, the Museum's Library was officially named The Bob Hope Memorial Library in honor of one the station's most famous immigrants.

In film

Ellis Island attracted the imagination of filmmakers as long ago as the silent era. Early films featuring the station include Traffic in Souls (1913); The Yellow Passport (1916), starring Clara Kimbell Young; My Boy (1921), starring Jackie Coogan; Frank Capra's The Strong Man (1926), starring Harry Langdon; We Americans (1928), starring John Boles; Ellis Island (1936), starring Donald Cook; Gateway (1938), starring Don Ameche; and Exile Express (1939), which starred Anna Sten.

The island was a scene used in the 2005 feature film romantic comedy, Hitch, starring Will Smith, in which his and Eva Mendes' characters take a jet ski to the island and explore the building.

The IMAX 3D movie, Across the Sea of Time, about the New York immigrant experience, incorporates both modern footage and historical photographs of Ellis Island.

Ellis Island as a port of entry to the United States of America is described in detail in Mottel the Cantor's Son by Sholom Aleichem. It is also the place where Don Corleone was held as an immigrant boy in The Godfather Part II, where he was marked with an encircled X.

In the film X-Men, a UN summit held on the island is targeted by Magneto, a former immigrant who attempts to artificially mutate all the delegates present.

The opening scene of Brother From Another Planet takes place on Ellis Island.

The 2006 Italian movie The Golden Door, (directed by Emanuele Crialese) takes place largely at Ellis Island.

A documentary on the hospital at Ellis Island was created by Lorie Conway.

Federal jurisdiction and state sovereignty dispute

According to the United States Census Bureau, the island, which was largely artificially created through landfill, has an official land area of 129,619 square meters, or 32 acres, more than 83 percent of which lies in the city of Jersey City. The natural portion of the island, lying in New York City, is 21,458 square meters (5.3 acres), and is completely surrounded by the artificially created portion. For New York State tax purposes it is assessed as Manhattan Block 1, Lot 201. Since 1998, it also has a tax number assigned by the state of New Jersey.

Overview before restoration; the now-restored side is the north side, or right half of the island. Piers of Jersey City are in the background.

On October 15, 1965, Ellis Island was proclaimed a part of Statue of Liberty National Monument, which is managed by the National Park Service. The island is entirely on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. During the colonial period, however, New York had taken possession, and New Jersey had acquiesced in that action. In a compact between the two states, approved by U.S. Congress in 1834, New Jersey therefore agreed that New York would continue to have exclusive jurisdiction over what was the territory of the island at that time.

Thereafter, however, the federal government expanded the island by landfill, so that it could accommodate the immigration station that opened in 1892 (and closed in November 1954). Landfilling continued until 1934. Nine-tenths of the current area is artificial island that did not exist at the time of the interstate compact.

New Jersey contended that the new extensions were part of New Jersey, since they were not part of the previous cession. New Jersey eventually filed suit to establish its jurisdiction, leading New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani to remark dramatically that his father, an Italian who immigrated through Ellis Island, never intended to go to New Jersey.[14]

The dispute eventually reached the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled in 1998 that New Jersey had jurisdiction over all portions of the island created after the original compact was approved (effectively, more than 80% of the island's present land). This caused several immediate confusions: some buildings, for instance, fell into the territory of both states. New Jersey and New York soon agreed to share claims to the island. It remains wholly a Federal property, however, and these legal decisions do not result in either state taking any fiscal or physical responsibility for the maintenance, preservation, or improvement of any of the historic properties.

See also

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Notes

  1. ^ New York Times, March 1, 2006, accessed March 16, 2008
  2. ^ Lee, Antoinette J., Architects to the Nation: The Rise and Decline of the Supervising Architect's Office, Oxford University Press, USA. 2000-04-20. ISBN 0-19-512822-2
  3. ^ a b c d e Ellis Island Timeline, Ellis Island Foundation, 2000.
  4. ^ National Park Service: Ellis Island, retrieved January 12, 2006.
  5. ^ Davis, Kenneth (2003), Don't Know Much About American History, HarperTrophy, ISBN 0-06-440836-1 ("Isle of Tears" or "Heartbreak Island," p. 123)
  6. ^ Ellis Island Timeline. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  7. ^ The Brown Quarterly, Volume 4, No. 1 (Fall 2000): Ellis Island/Immigration Issue
  8. ^ US Dept of Justice American Names / Declaring Independence, Marian L. Smith, INS Historian, US Citizenship and Immigration Services, last updated January 20, 2006, accessed May 22, 2007
  9. ^ "The Effect of Immigration on Surnames", FamilyEduction.com. Retrieved 2009-02-20. Excerpted from "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy" by Christine Rose and Kay Germain Ingalls, 2005.
  10. ^ Ellis Island Chalk Marks. Retrieved April 21, 2007.
  11. ^ Setha Low, Dana Taplin, Suzanne Sheld (2005),Rethinking Urban Parks, University of Texas Press; chapter 4.
  12. ^ "World's Premier Election Assistance NGO Appoints Chief Operating Officer: Top Republican strategist and fundraiser Wyatt A. Stewart, III to join the International Foundation for Electoral Systems" (PDF) (Press release). International Foundation for Electoral Systems. 30 November 2009. Retrieved December 5, 2009.
  13. ^ Bomar, Mary A. (2007). "Summary of Park Centennial Strategies" (PDF). National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-02-15. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  14. ^ Sheahan, Matthew. "My Grandmother Is the Greatest", Knot Magazine, May 4, 2004.

References

Further reading

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