Ellis Island

Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor that served as a major U.S. immigration inspection station from 1892 to 1954.

Immigration inspection: The examination of arriving migrants to determine whether they meet a country’s entry requirements. Ellis Island processed arrivals through medical and legal inspections before admission.
Immigration Act of 1891: A U.S. law that expanded federal authority over immigration and established a national immigration bureau. It placed immigrant inspection under federal control shortly before Ellis Island opened.
Annie Moore: An Irish teenager who was recorded as the first immigrant processed at Ellis Island on January 1, 1892. Her arrival became a widely remembered marker of the station’s opening.
Immigration to the United States: The movement of people from other countries to live in the United States. Ellis Island became a major federal gateway during a period of mass migration.
Public Health Service: A U.S. federal agency responsible for public health, including medical examinations of immigrants at ports of entry. Its doctors screened arrivals for illnesses and conditions that could prevent admission.
Castle Garden: A New York immigrant landing depot that processed arrivals from 1855 to 1890 before federal inspection moved to Ellis Island. It was the city’s principal predecessor station for immigrant processing.
Augustus Sherman: A U.S. immigration official and photographer whose portraits documented people detained at Ellis Island in the early twentieth century. His photographs preserve images of immigrants awaiting inspection and decisions.
European emigration: The movement of people from Europe to settle in other regions, especially during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Many Ellis Island arrivals were part of large migrations from Europe.
Six-Second Medical Examination: A rapid visual screening used by immigration inspectors to identify signs of illness among arriving immigrants. This brief first check could trigger a closer medical examination on Ellis Island.
U.S. Immigration Station, Ellis Island: The federal inspection complex that operated on Ellis Island from 1892 until its closure in 1954. Its buildings housed the examination and detention functions associated with the island.

Linked from 14 pages