Personal Experience: My Journey To Ellis Island
My Dearest Carlo,
As you know, I went through a series of events to get to Ellis Island and my experience there is worth telling. I will tell you about my voyage there, the very maddening inspections, and all my little experiences in-between and after.
Let me tell you about my journey to get to Ellis Island. As you know, I went to Ellis Island to live with my mother since my father had passed away roughly 7 years ago and I was living with my aunt and uncle in Italy. My mother had gone to Ellis Island a few years previous to my own journey to start a new life for us. My aunt and uncle had to save up to five years wages (2200 liras). I had to walk about 50 miles to get to the seaport! The trip across the Atlantic lasted about a week and a half. The fortunate first- and second- class passengers stayed in staterooms and cabins. Alas, like the majority of all the people on the steamship, I was in third class, which is …show more content…
The "buttonhook men" as we called it, were the most dreaded officials on Ellis Island. Immigrants who appeared sick or were suffering from a contagious disease during line inspection were marked with blue chalk and detained for further medical examination. The sick were taken to Ellis Island Hospital for observation and care, and once they recovered, could proceed with their legal inspection. The unfortunate immigrants with incurable or disabling ailments, however, were excluded and returned to their port of departure at the expense of the steamship line on which they arrived. I was very discouraged as people were told to go, or taken to the hospital. Firing questions at us, the inspector asked us our age, occupation, marital status, and destination in an attempt to determine our social, economic, and moral fitness. The officials were very strict. The immigration officials refused to send single women into the streets alone, and they could not leave with a man not related to them. Imagine
As you know, I went through a series of events to get to Ellis Island and my experience there is worth telling. I will tell you about my voyage there, the very maddening inspections, and all my little experiences in-between and after.
Let me tell you about my journey to get to Ellis Island. As you know, I went to Ellis Island to live with my mother since my father had passed away roughly 7 years ago and I was living with my aunt and uncle in Italy. My mother had gone to Ellis Island a few years previous to my own journey to start a new life for us. My aunt and uncle had to save up to five years wages (2200 liras). I had to walk about 50 miles to get to the seaport! The trip across the Atlantic lasted about a week and a half. The fortunate first- and second- class passengers stayed in staterooms and cabins. Alas, like the majority of all the people on the steamship, I was in third class, which is …show more content…
The "buttonhook men" as we called it, were the most dreaded officials on Ellis Island. Immigrants who appeared sick or were suffering from a contagious disease during line inspection were marked with blue chalk and detained for further medical examination. The sick were taken to Ellis Island Hospital for observation and care, and once they recovered, could proceed with their legal inspection. The unfortunate immigrants with incurable or disabling ailments, however, were excluded and returned to their port of departure at the expense of the steamship line on which they arrived. I was very discouraged as people were told to go, or taken to the hospital. Firing questions at us, the inspector asked us our age, occupation, marital status, and destination in an attempt to determine our social, economic, and moral fitness. The officials were very strict. The immigration officials refused to send single women into the streets alone, and they could not leave with a man not related to them. Imagine