Ellis Island and Hope
History is full of hope
I find a lot of hope in history. Pondering terrible moments of history oddly brings me hope. For example, when people dramatically exclaim, “Congress has never been so partisan,” I think of this scene back in 1858:
The most infamous floor brawl in the history of the U.S. House of Representatives erupted…[when] Republican Galusha Grow and South Carolina Democrat Laurence Keitt exchanged insults, then blows…More than 30 Members joined the melee. …Wisconsin Republicans John “Bowie Knife” Potter and Cadwallader Washburn ripped the hairpiece from the head of William Barksdale, a Democrat from Mississippi.
This story1 gives me hope.
No matter how contentious things are, members of Congress are not punching each other.
We are not fighting a Civil War.
I also hope the name Cadwallader comes back into circulation one day
Terrible moments in history remind us how far we have come.
I also find hope in the most positive moments in history. If we did things right once, we can do them again. I’m sure there is a logical fallacy in finding hope both in the positives and negatives of history, but so be it.
Once upon a not-so-long-ago time, the USA quickly and efficiently processed millions of immigrants. Ellis Island processed 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954. Over a million entered the United States in 1907 alone. Most immigrants arriving at Ellis Island were processed in a few hours. No passports, visas, or papers were needed to enter the United States through Ellis Island.2 For most people, getting through Ellis Island took only about 3 - 5 hours. And then they were off to their new lives in America.
When I tell this to my students, many of whom have helped their families sort through piles of immigration paperwork, their mouths drop open in flabbergastment.3
Those who say things like “immigrants today need to follow the rules, just like my ancestors did,” generally have no idea what they are talking about.
A place to visit: The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
And so, to me, Ellis Island is a place of hope.
When my mom and I were in New York a couple of years ago, visiting the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island was at the top of our to-do list.
After a quick boat ride to the island, we enjoyed the narrated lap around the statue on Liberty Island with our audio tourist-necklaces. Then we hopped aboard the boat to Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration wherein I immediately wished that we had more time and/or hadn’t taken so much time on our leisurely lap around Madame Liberty.
There is so much to see at Ellis Island.
We began by walking up the stairs to the Great Hall, which was pretty awe-inspiring.
It’s the quintessential Ellis Island experience. Back in the early 20th century, 5,000 immigrants would walk up these stairs every day, probably not realizing that Health Inspectors were scrutinizing them from above, ready to chalk an indicator on their jackets if they struggled with the steps.
For Mom and me, the Great Hall was a quiet place. It was relatively free of tourists. We sat on the original wooden benches and quietly took in the grandeur of the place: the polished floors, the arched windows, the vaulted ceilings, the American flags.
It was a moment of quiet reflection for us.
But 100 years ago, that Hall was incredibly loud. Imagine thousands of people with their bags and babies, trying to find their land legs and get through registration in dozens of different languages. I’m sure those vaulted ceilings, which look so beautiful today, just amplified everything. It’s strange to be in such a quiet place that used to be known for its daily scenes of total chaos.
After the Great Hall, immigrants went down the Stairs of Separation: New Yorkers-to-be to the left and everyone else to the right.
Mom and I walked past the old hearing rooms, where around 10% of Ellis Island immigrants were subject to legal hearings. About 20% of those selected for hearings were denied entry. They were sent back across the Atlantic, usually at the expense of the shipping company who’d transported them to America in the first place.
Mom and I also toured the Through America's Gate Exhibit. I could have spent hours here. The exhibit took visitors sequentially through the experience of immigrants through primary sources. Each “step” in the process was narrated by an elderly voice, remembering that moment from childhood when they first saw the Statue of Liberty. There were pictures and artifacts and documents.
The First Floor includes the baggage room and exhibits on pre and post Ellis Island immigration. There is also a Family History Center, with folks ready to help you dig through records of ship manifests and pictures to find records of your ancestors.
Being at Ellis Island filled me with hope.
What a different scene Ellis Island is, compared to stories of modern-day immigrants being stuck for years in a border town on the south side of the Rio Grande. The Great Hall may have been chaotic, but I’ll take noisy chaos any day over separating parents from their children. I still tear up when I think of that 2018 audio clip of children screaming and begging for their parents after being separated and detained at the border.
In these days of deadly ICE raids, Ellis Island reminds us that once upon a time, Americans knew how to welcome immigrants. We can do it again.4
Sure, some 20th-century people worried that too many immigrants would be America’s downfall.
They were wrong.
Immigrants were, are, and always will be America’s greatest strength.
The hope that immigrants bring to America is my very favorite part of living in this country.
My hope is that someday (soon!) we will again live up to the Emma Lazarus poem at the foot of the statue:
"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-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
A book to read: Her Right Foot by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris
Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris capture this vibe of hope beautifully in their book Her Right Foot. The book begins with the story of how the Statue of Liberty was built in France and then taken apart and shipped to America. It was chock full of statue facts:
The book then focuses on one important fact:
This is true! I took a picture:
Eggers and Harris then connect this architectural fact to immigration in the most beautiful way:
So, if you want to soak up some hopeful vibes, but can’t get to Ellis Island, find this book!
While you are waiting for your copy of Her Right Foot to arrive at your house or library hold shelf, you can read Heather Cox Richardson’s (history professor and #1 Substacker) piece on Ellis Island and turn-of-the-century immigration.
She writes:
In his third annual message on December 8, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln asked Congress to get involved in the process by establishing “a system for the encouragement of immigration.”
“[T]he nation is beginning a new life,” he wrote, and “[t]his noble effort demands the aid and ought to receive the attention and support of the Government.”
A lesson to teach: Dick Durbin’s speech and the roles of Congress
As a World History teacher, I don’t teach specifically about Ellis Island or immigration to the US.
But I do teach American Government!
One of my favorite lessons during our unit on the legislative branch is teaching students about all the roles of Congress. I loosely follow this lesson on the National Archives website.
The lesson describes the 20 different “jobs” of Congress and provides 20 different primary source documents. Each document is an example of Congress fulfilling one such job. Students get to match each document to the job. For example, a letter Abraham Lincoln wrote to the Senate asking them to confirm his latest nominee (he nominated Ulysses S. Grant to be Lieutenant General), matches the congressional job of confirming presidential nominations.
This is a tricky task, so students need some background knowledge first. Before handing the stack of 20 primary sources to students, I take them through this hefty lecture. Feel free to make yourself a copy to use!
This Google Slides Presentation teaches students about the 20 jobs of Congress. Each slide has a video clip of a member of Congress doing one of those jobs. Most of the clips are from the past few years, so students get a healthy dose of current events in these lessons. Every year I switch out a few of the videos for more current events. Most of the videos are short 1-2 minute clips, but there is an exception.
When we get to the Congressional job of creating rules for immigration and naturalization, I show Dick Durbin’s 2020 speech advocating for the Dream Act. We watch the whole thing, often with tears in our eyes. Senator Durbin speaks so eloquently and passionately about how America needs immigrants, telling the story of one healthcare hero who has relied on DACA since high school.
If you even mention immigration or DACA in your classes, you might want to find this speech and share it with your students. It’s often the first time that students get a sense that maybe one or two of those old white guys who work in Washington D.C. might actually care about them. That is a powerful lesson in hope too.
If you want to teach this, here is the student worksheet I created. Students complete the middle column as they watch the modern video examples (it usually takes about 2 or 3 days). The right column is completed as students sort through the stack of primary source documents and match the document to the congressional job (another 2 or 3 days). I print out 5 sets of the documents (one for each table group) so they can all share/work together.
It’s a fun lesson. I always march around the classroom, talking about how fun it is, matching a document to a task like a puzzle. And then I ask students, “isn’t this fun!?!?” and they roll their eyes and say no. But inside their hearts, I’m sure they mean yes.
One can hope.
Happy teaching, traveling, and reading! See y’all next Sunday.
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From the U.S. House of Representatives Archives: https://history.house.gov/Historical-Highlights/1851-1900/The-most-infamous-floor-brawl-in-the-history-of-the-U-S--House-of-Representatives/
https://www.history.com/articles/immigrants-ellis-island-short-processing-time
My new word: A cross between flabbergasted and amazement
If you want to argue with me, you have lots of fodder. I know immigration furthered Manifest Destiny and pushed Native Americans off their land. I know that American immigration policy has always been racist. The Chinese Exclusion Act and the quota system that benefited people from “more desirable” countries certainly come to mind. On an individual level, so many personal stories of Ellis Island are rife with confusion, staggering sadness at what and whom was left behind, and interactions with cruel immigration agents. I know immigrants leaving Ellis Island, they were greeted by military recruiters, industrialists ready to pay them terrible wages, and scammers of all sorts. I’ve read this book. Twice. I still have hope.
Persistent hope is a kind of magic all its own!
Well written and documented, Jenna! I've done those tours and the room with the baggage is what comes to mind when I think of Ellis Island. Your piece on Congress' 20 jobs was new to me. Thanks for writing an enlightening and thought provoking newsletter!