These fascinating historical photographs depict immigrants and their struggle to land in America in the 1900s. Unprecedented numbers of immigrants flocked to US shores, dreaming of a life of freedom and prosperity.
Between 1820 and 1920, approximately 34 million immigrants came to this country, and New York City was by the far the most popular destination. By 1910, immigrants and their American-born children accounted for more than 70 percent of New York City’s population.
As steamships sailed to Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty greeted them, her inscription calling out, “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
Unlike earlier immigrants, the majority of the newcomers after 1900 came from non-English-speaking European countries.
The principal source of immigrants was now southern and eastern Europe, especially Italy, Poland, and Russia, countries quite different in culture and language from the United States, and many immigrants had difficulty adjusting to life here.
At the same time, the United States had difficulty absorbing the immigrants. Most of the immigrants chose to settle in American cities, where jobs were located. As a result, the cities became ever more crowded. In addition, city services often failed to keep up with the flow of newcomers.
Most of the immigrants did find jobs, although they often worked in jobs that most native-born Americans would not take. Over time, however, many immigrants succeeded in improving their conditions.
Italian family en route to Ellis Island. “Sometimes the number of immigrants waiting to be transferred was so great, that they waited for several days and nights before the little ferry boat could bring them to the island.”
From 1892 to 1924, Ellis Island was America’s largest and most active immigration station, where over 12 million immigrants were processed.
On average, the inspection process took approximately 3-7 hours. For the vast majority of immigrants, Ellis Island truly was an “Island of Hope” – the first stop on their way to new opportunities and experiences in America.
For the rest, it became the “Island of Tears” – a place where families were separated and individuals were denied entry into the United States.
New arrivals were processed quickly. In the Registry Room, Public Health Service doctors looked to see if any of them wheezed, coughed, shuffled or limped.
Children were asked their names to make sure they weren’t deaf or dumb. Toddlers were taken from their mothers’ arms and made to walk. As the line moved forward, doctors had only a few seconds to check each immigrant for sixty symptoms of disease.
Of primary concern were cholera, favus (scalp and nail fungus), tuberculosis, insanity, epilepsy, and mental impairments. The disease most feared was trachoma, a highly contagious eye infection that could lead to blindness and death.
Joys and Sorrows at Ellis Island, 1905. “ A group of Slavic immigrants registers many shades of emotion. The baby salutes his new home — quite a family group.”
Once registered, immigrants were free to enter the New World and start their new lives. But if they were sick, they spent days, weeks, months even, in a warren of rooms.
Some, like the tuberculosis ward, were open to the sea, where a gentle New York harbor breeze cleansed their lungs, improving their chances.
Other rooms were solitary, forlorn places where the illness itself decided when to leave or stay. Most patients in the hospital or Contagious Disease Ward recovered, but some were not so lucky.
More than 120,000 immigrants were sent back to their countries of origin, and during the island’s half-century of operation more than 3,500 immigrants died there.
Ellis Island waylaid certain arrivals, including those likely to become public charges, such as unescorted women and children. Women could not leave Ellis Island with a man not related to them.
Other detainees included stowaways, alien seamen, anarchists, Bolsheviks, criminals and those judged to be “immoral.”
Approximately 20 percent of immigrants inspected at Ellis Island were temporarily detained, half for health reasons and half for legal reasons
Immigrants detained at Ellis Island dancing. “In 1905 there was no organized recreation, so the immigrants supplied their own. The sign overhead reads: ‘No charge for meals here’. It is written in six different languages.”
Getting tagged by an official for a railroad trip, 1920s.
Group of Italians in the Railroad Waiting Room, Ellis Island, 1905. “These are some of the Italians who became of the barbers, waiters, chauffeurs and mayors of America. Some became the artists and sculptors of our national Capitol and of other public buildings.”
Armenian Jew, Ellis Island 1926. “This Armenian Jew probably left his native land to escape the Turkish persecution of the post-war period. His beard is typical of that worn by the orthodox Jews of Europe and the near East.”
Young Russian Jew at Ellis Island, 1905. “’Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound; But where is what I started for so long ago — and why it is still unfound.’ – Whitman”
An Albanian woman from Italy at Ellis Island, 1905. “This woman is wearing her native costume. At times the Island looked like a costume ball with the multicolored, many-styled national costumes.”
Finnish Stowaway at Ellis Island, 1926. “The desire to come to America must have been very strong for this young man to face all sorts of uncertainties.”
Jew from Russia at Ellis Island, 1905. “Jewish immigration from Russia dates back to the 1840s. The Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and the Pogroms kept the exodus high. Today there are supposedly 2,000,000 Russian Jews in America.”
Slavic immigrant at Ellis Island, 1905. “Beds, three tiers high, were still not sufficient to accommodate the 5,000 immigrants who arrived daily. Many, like this young woman, were forced to sleep on benches, chairs, or on the floor.”
Slavic Mother and Child at Ellis Island, 1905. “The woman in the background carries her baggage in typical peasant fashion. The identification tag on her chest is the first touch of American civilization.”
Slavic Mother. “With all of her possessions on her back, this woman is prepared to face the future. Many of the 2,000,000 Slavs come to America in a similar condition.”
Lithuanian Woman with Colorful Shawl, 1926.
Labor Agency, Lower West Side, 1910.
Italian worker on New York State Barge Canal, 1912.
Italian clothing worker in Rochester, NY factory, 1915.
Mid-morning lunch at Ellis Island. “The attendant brings a milk lunch, a great improvement over former days, when prunes or prune sandwiches, was the chief diet offered.”
Group of Germans having lunch at Ellis Island, 1926. “Notice the variety of foods on the table; this is a considerable improvement over the earlier days. The room too is less crowded and more comfortable looking.”
A Social Worker at Ellis Island. “A social worker explains to a group of immigrants some of the technicalities of becoming an American.”
“This enclosure is part of the improved conditions on the island. Here the elders too could play baseball, box or play some of their native games. In the background New York skyline can be seen.”
Italian child dinds her first penny, 1926. “This little girl finds the wonders of Ellis Island and the New World far more fascinating than the first penny clasped in her hand.”
Italian Mother and Child, Ellis Island 1905. “This beautiful mother and child sit outside the detention cell. Sometimes 1700 immigrants were crowded into a room which was built to accommodate 600.”
Mona Lisa visits Ellis Island, 1905. “The large window in the background becomes a halo for this Russian family, who might have been a suitable subject for a Renaissance painter.”
French worker making high-grade tapestries, New York City, 1920.
Russian boarding house, Homestead, Pennsylvania, 1909.
Group of Italian street laborers working under Sixth Ave., New York City, 1910.
Greek wrestling club at Hull House, Chicago, 1910.
Italian craftsman working in bronze, New York City, 1930.
Italian mother, Lower East Side, New York City. “Carrying clothing to the tenement to be ‘finished’ by family. Many young children have been employed long hours this way when they should have been at play or study.”
Cop brings them home alive, East Side, New York City, 1915.
Fresh air for the baby, Italian Quarter, New York City, 1910.
Italian family sits for its portrait in Chicago tenement near Hull House, 1910.
Bedroom of Italian family in a rear tenement of the New York East Side, 1910.
“A happy note in the old tenement life. Child is bathed and underwear is laundered at one time.”
A young refugee with musical talent receives instruction in Hull House music studio, 1910.
A Syrian Arab at Ellis Island, 1926. “Tatto marks her face and hands, (a sign of marriage), did not show on photograph”.
A Slovak immigrant, Ellis Island, 1905. “This young Slovak woman is one of the vast number of her people who started to come as early as the 18th century. Hungarian persecution started an extensive wave of migration by Slovaks to this country”.
Jewish grandmother, Ellis Island, 1926. “So this is America. This Jewish grandmother’s face is filled with awe and hope, as she looks towards the land from which her people have gained, and to which they have given so much”.
A Czech Slovak grandmother at Ellis Island, 1926. “Until 1918, the stream of immigration of the Czechs and Slovaks was independent, so that today there are actually twice as many Czechs and Slovaks in the United States”.
Italian grandmother at Ellis Island, 1926. “Ellis Island was not only recipient of the great Italian immigration of the early nineteen hundreds. A very large number went to South America, settling in Argentina and Chile”.
A group of German immigrants at Ellis Island, 1926. “This is a typical German sampling of farmers, scholars, professional men, and perhaps a butcher. The group is fairly prosperous as modern clothes and baggage indicate”.
Italian family en router to Ellis Island. “This is the small boat of the Immigration Service which carried aliens from the pier to Ellis Island. Sometimes the number of immigrants waiting to be transferred was so great, that they waited for several days and nights before the little ferry boat could bring them to the island.”
A woman, a boy and a girl at a chain link fence, Ellis Island, New York