New York - Welcome to the land of freedom - An ocean steamer passing the Statue of Liberty: Scene on the steerage deck / from a sketch by a staff artist. (Picture obtained from the Library of Congress web site within public domain.)
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WEB SITES on IMMIGRATION and ELLIS ISLAND:
- Library of Congress: Selected images of Ellis Island and immigration 1880-1920
- Scholastic's Site on Immigration: Take an interactive tour of the main building at Ellis Island
- Ellis Island National Monument: The official government web site; great for planning a visit!
- eMints (Missouri Educators' site on Immigration): This site links to many other great sites with video, pics, etc.!
- Ellis Island Records: See when the different people groups emmigrated to the U.S.
- Immigration ThinkQuest: Excellent site with a picture tour of what the immigrants experienced! Includes links to different nationalities, a timeline, and personal stories from immigrants past and present!
- History.com: Includes photos, timeline, video.
STUDENT ACTIVITY:
After you have received your identity as an immigrant, use information from the above web sites to create a blog of 4 of the following entries:
- Before you left your country. Give the reasons for wanting to leave and go to America. Was anyone waiting for you there? Who was going with you? Describe yourself and your life in your native country?
- What was it like on the ship coming over? Describe the conditions. How were you feeling? Did you ever give up hope?
- What was it like going through the examination? Did they find anything wrong with you? Did you get separated from your loved ones? How long did it take?
- What happened after you left Ellis Island? Were you permitted to enter the mainland or were you sent back to your country? How were you feeling? Where did you go?