By: lisawayman

lisawayman — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 04:15:53 +0000

It really doesn’t seem like a good way of keeping track of who can stay does it? I too felt the hopefulness and the anxiety of the people waiting to see if they could enter the US. It was overwhelming to me, all the emotions and hope and I was so grateful to my ancestors who went through all they did to get here.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Sun, 30 Aug 2015 01:24:24 +0000

Since Ellis Island opened to the public as a National Historic Site, I have visited several times. Sitting on a bench in the immense hall, I tried to imagine the emotions and confusion of all the hopeful people waiting to be processed. In one of the audio remembrances I listened to, a woman recounted an incident where her family was able to get her little brother admitted, in spite of his having difficulty climbing the stairs because of asthma. The inspector at the top of the stairs marked his coat with an X in chalk, indicating that he was a candidate for deportation for health reasons. Another immigrant in the waiting hall, who must have known the procedure, told the family to turn the boy’s coat inside out, so the officials would not see the X. The mother of the family had sewn a new wool lining into the coat before they undertook their voyage, so the inside looked as good as the outside. This deception allowed the whole family to enter.

Comments on: Not making it through Ellis Island

By: lisawayman

By: Suzanne