No place in America is more strongly associated with her immigrant history than New York's Ellis Island. Some 12 million immigrants began life in their new country there, and for many the first glimpse of America was the Statue of Liberty. This special follows Annie Moore, the seventeen year old from County Cork who was the first immigrant processed when the station opened on New Year's Day 1892, the neighbourhoods that immigration built in New York, the roughly two percent who were turned away, and the arrivals whose names Americans still know.

Key Takeaways

• Ellis Island began as a small island surrounded by tidal flats and oyster beds. Through extensive landfill it grew from 3.5 acres to 27.5 acres.

• The first immigrant processed was Annie Moore, a seventeen year old from Queenstown in County Cork, who sailed on the steamship Nevada with her two younger brothers and arrived in New York Harbor on New Year's Eve, 1891. The station opened the next morning, New Year's Day 1892, and Annie was handed a ten dollar gold coin.

• Annie Moore married Joseph Augustus Schayer, the son of German Catholic immigrants, and had eleven children, of whom five survived to adulthood. She died in 1924 at fifty years old, a few blocks from the first tenement she shared with her family. Two statues honour her today.

• By 1910, 75 percent of New York City's population were immigrants or the children of immigrants. Neighbourhoods were identifiable by language, religion, food and custom: Little Italy on Mulberry Street, the largely Irish Hell's Kitchen, and a section of the Lower East Side known as the world's largest Jewish city, where Second Avenue became “Yiddish Broadway.”

• The crossing was hard. Frank Capra, who later directed It Happened One Night and It's a Wonderful Life, recalled celebrating his sixth birthday in 1903 in the black, dark hold of a ship crammed with retching, praying, miserable people.

• Approximately 2 percent of the twelve million immigrants processed at Ellis Island were denied admission. Grounds included serious contagious disease or disabling medical condition, likely financial dependence on the public, a criminal record, or failure to meet changing federal requirements. In the busiest years, 98 percent of new arrivals were admitted.

• Arrivals through Ellis Island included Father Edward J. Flanagan, who founded Boys Town; Irving Berlin, who wrote White Christmas and God Bless America; the poet Khalil Gibran; Cary Grant and Bob Hope; Golda Meir; Claudette Colbert; Knute Rockne; Tom Carvel, a pioneer of soft serve; Caesar Cardini, creator of the Caesar salad; and Michael Strank, one of six Marines who raised the flag at Iwo Jima.

• Ellis Island closed in 1954. It was the first and largest federal immigrant processing station in America, and from 1892 to 1924 the nation's busiest. In 1907 alone, over one million immigrants entered through its doors.

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Questions & Answers:

Q1: Who was the first immigrant processed at Ellis Island?

Annie Moore, a seventeen year old from Queenstown in County Cork, Ireland. She sailed on the steamship Nevada with her two younger brothers, Anthony and Philip, arriving in New York harbor on New Year's Eve 1891. Ellis Island opened the next morning, New Year's Day 1892, and as the first immigrant through the new facility she was handed a ten dollar gold coin.

Q2: How many immigrants came through Ellis Island?

Some 12 million immigrants were processed at Ellis Island. It was the first and largest federal immigrant processing station in America, and from 1892 to 1924 it was the nation's busiest. In 1907 alone, over one million immigrants entered through its doors.

Q3: How many people were turned away at Ellis Island?

Approximately 2 percent of the twelve million immigrants processed were denied admission and returned to their countries of origin. In the station's busiest years, 98 percent of new arrivals were admitted.

Q4: Why were immigrants denied entry?

Grounds for denial included serious contagious disease or a disabling medical condition, likely financial dependence on the public, a criminal record, or failure to meet changing federal immigration requirements. Some groups were restricted at all American entry points, including Japanese labourers in 1907 and Asians in general in 1917.

Q5: Which famous people came through Ellis Island?

Arrivals included Father Edward J. Flanagan, founder of Boys Town; the composer Irving Berlin; the poet Khalil Gibran; Cary Grant and Bob Hope; Golda Meir; Claudette Colbert; Knute Rockne; Tom Carvel, a pioneer of soft serve ice cream; Caesar Cardini, creator of the Caesar salad; and Michael Strank, one of six Marines who raised the flag at Iwo Jima.

Q6: What happened to Annie Moore?

She settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, married Joseph Augustus Schayer, the son of German Catholic immigrants, and had eleven children, of whom five survived to adulthood. She died in 1924 at the age of fifty, a few blocks from the first tenement apartment she shared with her family. Two statues honour her memory.

Q7: When did Ellis Island close?

Ellis Island closed in 1954. Since 1776, America has admitted somewhere over 91 million lawful immigrants, more than any other nation in recorded history.

The Portal of Freedom and Hope

No place in America is more strongly associated with her immigrant history than New York's Ellis Island. Some 12 million immigrants began life in their new country there. For many of them, their first glimpse of America was the Statue of Liberty, and their aspirations were captured by the words engraved on a bronze plaque in the statue's pedestal: give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The land of the free was a land of hope for immigrants from every corner of the world.

From Oyster Beds to 27 Acres

Ellis Island started as a small island surrounded by tidal flats and oyster beds. Through extensive landfill, it grew from a 3.5 acre island to 27.5 acres.

Annie Moore, First Through the Door

The first immigrant processed at Ellis Island was Annie Moore, a seventeen year old Irish immigrant who came to live with her parents; they had arrived in Manhattan three years earlier. Accompanied by her two younger brothers, Anthony and Philip, she departed from Queenstown in County Cork aboard the steamship Nevada on December 20, 1891. After a twelve day journey, Annie arrived in New York harbor late at night on New Year's Eve, 1891. Along with the other passengers, the Moore siblings spent the rest of the night aboard the Nevada. The next day was New Year's Day, 1892, when Ellis Island opened for the first time. A ferry dropped Annie and her brothers at the landing bureau, and as the first immigrant to enter the new facility she was handed a ten dollar gold coin. The three Moore children were soon reunited with their parents.

A Life on the Lower East Side

Their home was at 32 Monroe Street in the Two Bridges area on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, where hundreds of five to six story tenement buildings housed immigrant families. Three years after she arrived, Annie Moore married nineteen year old Joseph Augustus Schayer, the son of German Catholic immigrants, who worked as a salesman at the Fulton Fish Market, the largest wholesale seafood market in America. The couple had eleven children, but only five survived to adulthood. Annie died in 1924 at the Schayers' home on Cherry Street, a few blocks from the first tenement apartment she shared with her parents and brothers on Monroe. She was fifty years old, and is honoured today by two statues erected in her memory.

The City That Immigration Built

The Moores and the Schayers were part of an immigration wave that dramatically changed New York. By 1910, 75 percent of the city's population were immigrants or children of immigrants. Many neighbourhoods were markedly identifiable by language, religion, food and customs. There was Little Italy, the heart of which lay on Mulberry Street in Manhattan. Hell's Kitchen, the largely working class neighbourhood on Manhattan's West Side between 34th and 59th Streets, was home to a substantial Irish American population. A concentrated section of the Lower East Side was known as the world's largest Jewish city, populated with Jewish immigrant families largely from Eastern Europe, with synagogues, yeshivas, kosher delis and Yiddish newspapers. Second Avenue became “Yiddish Broadway,” lined with theatres presenting dramas, comedies and musicals.

Frank Capra in the Hold of a Ship

For many new Americans the voyage to New York was difficult. The Italian immigrant Frank Capra recounted his own voyage in 1903: I celebrated my sixth birthday in the black, dark hold of a ship, crammed with retching, praying, miserable people. Capra went on to become one of America's most iconic Hollywood directors. His filmography includes It Happened One Night and It's a Wonderful Life.

The Two Percent Who Were Turned Away

Approximately 2 percent of the twelve million immigrants processed at Ellis Island were denied admission and returned to their countries of origin. Reasons for denial included serious contagious disease or disabling medical condition, likely financial dependence on the public, a criminal record, or failure to meet changing federal immigration requirements. Some groups were restricted at all American entry points: Japanese labourers in 1907 and Asians in general in 1917. In 1921, Congress limited what members of both major parties considered undesirable elements, mainly Southern and Eastern Europeans, many of whom were Jewish, Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. Still, in Ellis Island's busiest years, 98 percent of new arrivals were admitted.

The Names You Already Know

Some of the most famous immigrants who entered America by way of Ellis Island included Father Edward J. Flanagan, the Irish born Catholic priest who founded Nebraska's Boys Town for homeless and at risk youth; Irving Berlin, the Russian born Jew who composed White Christmas and God Bless America; the poet Khalil Gibran, who came from Lebanon, at the time part of the Ottoman Empire; the actor Cary Grant and the entertainer Bob Hope, from England; Golda Meir, the future prime minister of Israel, from Russia; Claudette Colbert, who became a leading Hollywood actress, from France; the legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, from Norway; the Greek Tom Carvel, who founded the Carvel Ice Cream company and pioneered soft serve; the Italian Caesar Cardini, restaurateur and creator of the Caesar salad; and the Czechoslovak born Michael Strank, one of six Marines who raised the flag at Iwo Jima.

Closing the Doors, 1954

Ellis Island closed its doors in 1954, but not before it had played a remarkable role in America's story. It was the first and largest federal immigrant processing station in America, and from 1892 to 1924 it was the nation's busiest immigration station. In 1907 alone, over one million immigrants began their new life by entering America through its doors.

In the broader history of American immigration, beginning in 1820, America became the number one destination in the world for immigrants seeking a new life. Since 1776, America has admitted somewhere over 91 million lawful immigrants, more than any other nation in recorded history.