Ellis Island
Harbor processing station
Ellis Island is a small island in New York Harbor that served as the primary immigration station for the United States from 1892 to 1954.
More than twelve million immigrants passed through its processing center.
The name evokes the immigrant experience—hope, hardship, and the gateway to American life: My great-grandmother came through Ellis Island in 1903.
One who resettles abroad
- emigrantPerson resettling in another nation
- refugeePerson fleeing danger abroad
- naturalizationLegal path to belonging
- visaTravel authorization stamp
asylum · citizenship · deportation · quota · green card · passport · border · exodus
Island colossus near Manhattan
- monumentStructure honoring someone remembered
- national parkProtected land for conservation
- museumPublic exhibit space
- harborSafe anchorage for ships
New York · tourism · sightseeing · ferry · restoration · architecture · preservation · historic site
Stored historical records
- timelineOrdered display of events
- 1892Four-digit date
- closureSense of emotional resolution
- 1954Mid-twentieth century year
reopening · registry · records · photographs · oral histories · restoration · National Park Service · inspection
Family line of descent
- lineageDescent from progenitors
- rootsUnderground nutrient absorbers
- genealogyStudy of family descent
- family treeChart of ancestors
descent · bloodline · kinship · legacy · birthright · ethnicity · traditions · forebears
Imposing entrance or gate
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- entry pointWhere access begins
- doorwayPassage into a room
- passageSegment of text
point of entry · disembarkation · new beginning · American Dream · opportunity · hope · new life · fresh start
immigrant
One who resettles abroad
- emigrantPerson resettling in another nation
- refugeePerson fleeing danger abroad
- naturalizationLegal path to belonging
visa · asylum · citizenship · deportation · quota · green card · passport · border · exodus · expatriate
Statue of Liberty
Island colossus near Manhattan
- monumentStructure honoring someone remembered
- national parkProtected land for conservation
- museumPublic exhibit space
harbor · New York · tourism · sightseeing · ferry · restoration · architecture · preservation · historic site · Manhattan
archive
Stored historical records
1954 · reopening · registry · records · photographs · oral histories · restoration · National Park Service · inspection · quarantine
ancestry
Family line of descent
family tree · descent · bloodline · kinship · legacy · birthright · ethnicity · traditions · forebears · clan
portal
Imposing entrance or gate
- thresholdPoint of beginning
- entry pointWhere access begins
- doorwayPassage into a room
passage · point of entry · disembarkation · new beginning · American Dream · opportunity · hope · new life · fresh start · promised land
- immigrationimmigrant, immigrants, visa, refugee, citizenship
- US HistoryAmerican Revolution, US history, Civil War, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln
- New YorkManhattan, Bronx, Queens, Staten Island, Brooklyn
- NYC AttractionsEmpire State Building, Central Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Statue of Liberty
- islandsisland, isle, isles, islet, islets
- 1800s AmericaOregon Trail, Trail of Tears, transcontinental railroad, Civil War, Abraham Lincoln
Ellis Islanddetention center
Place for confining detainees
Chinese Exclusion Act · quota system · rejection · turned away · exclusion
Ellis Islanddeportation center
Facility for holding those awaiting removal
deportation · expulsion · exile · banishment · repatriation