Ellis Island Interviews: In Their Own Words

by Peter Morton Coan

The years between 1820 and 1931 saw the U.S. experience its greatest wave of immigration. Between 1892 and 1954, more than 66 percent of immigrants to America came through Ellis Island. The majority of Americans today are the descendants of pioneering ancestors from that period. Here then are firsthand accounts by the last surviving immigrants and others of the hardships they endured, experiences they recalled, and the wonder and amazement they felt seeing the Statue of Liberty upon their arrival at Ellis Island—the proof that America, their dream, was real.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, American History, Research, Historical

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Peter Morton Coan (b. 1956) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and adopted and raised by an affluent Jewish family in Manhattan. After graduating high school he befriended singer-songwriter Harry Chapin offering to write his biography. Like the movie Almost Famous, he went on to spend the next seven years traveling with Chapin and his band all the while attending college—the University at Buffalo and later Boston University. He is the former Executive Editor of World Tennis magazine and Boating Industry magazine. He is married with two daughters and lives in Manhattan.

Reviews

[ballysharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this 10 stars I would.....it was my all-time favorite book. As a genealogist I love to hear stories of my ancestors and this book gave me a real glimpse into the life of immigrants that came through Ellis Island. I like the way the book was divided by regions. I will be reading this again someday!

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is all about immigration to New York's Ellis Island. It's an accumulation of stories as told by surviving immigrants, where they came from, how they lived in their countries, the journey to New York and what they enduring during the trip and what happened after arriving at Ellis Island. It's a wonderful book and it touches on an emotional level when they describe the sacrifices they made to come to America. It's a well written book which I thoroughly enjoyed. I highly recommend this book to all those who enjoy history and the immigration era.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going to tour Ellis Island whet my interest in this history.

[Janice Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful piece of individual Histories. The story of every American.......

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an amazing history of Ellis Island and the experience of those who worked there and those who entered "the golden door." This book would be appropriate for students in high school and beyond. It begins with a history of Ellis Island and then continues with a chapter filled with interviews of Ellis Island Employees. It was interesting to read of the immigrant experience through their eyes. The rest of the book is divided into geographic sections filled with personal interviews. If I was using this book with students, I might have them choose to read a selection of interviews rather than this entire book. It may be too daunting to read all of them. I could see having students read the employee interviews and then one or two from each country within each geographic region in order to compare and contrast the experiences. There are some people who became famous interviewed about their experiences including Bob Hope and Isaac Bashevis Singer, among others.

[Ginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I'll be honest. I didn't read the whole book. Yet. It's deep.
I read the beginning about the history of Ellis Island, how it got it's name, who owned it, and all about who worked there. The pictures are fascinating too. The sections are broken into nationalities which is very helpful. I read the accounts from Ireland and England immigrants and their lives are so amazing. They endured such hardships not only in obtaining passage, but also in eeking out a life in America.
If I'm having a bad day, I will come back to this book and read more immigrant stories from Italy, Greece, and Russia.
God Bless America!

[Donna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a resource! These are narratives of emigrants from Europe telling their experiences as they entered the USA through the processing station of the 19th and early 20th century, Ellis Island. Thus, it is a large volume that is comprised solely of primary sources.

This is not a light read; in fact, it might be better considered a resource material than a front-to-back read, though one enthusiastic enough could surely do it that way.

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating book. Peter Morton Coan has collected some great interviews with people who went through Ellis Island. The book is divided by region, and understandably he seems to have gotten the most material out of western and eastern Europe. It's unfortunate that he couldn't include some interviews with Asian immigrants also, but what is here is really good. I loved this book.

[Marisa Lyden geraghty · Rating 5 out of 5]

The text is more of a transcription of these stories, so they truly are in the immigrants' own words. Amazing when you realize the hardships and uncertainty they faced coming to this country, and the atrocities many of them faced before they even got here. Their appreciation and love for this country is quite moving.

[Bonni Sweet · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet book. These are stories of people who came through Ellis Island and what they encountered on the way and once they arrived. Reading so many letters from 70 and 80 year olds who remember coming through in their childhood and teens almost makes me cry. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes history or a good old fashion "life" story.

[Mokamonkey · Rating 5 out of 5]

After visiting Ellis Island in person, I had to read more about the people who experienced it as they entered the country. This book was just what I was looking for - lots of first hand stories. Very engaging, sometimes heart-breaking and sometimes heart-warming.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part fascination with that place, part research. But this book didn't dramatize nor glamorize Ellis Island so much as others may. It was very simply a collection of interviews with a broad range of people who had come through.
And I will get there someday to see it-- I must.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Organized by country of origin, this books gives testimony to the fate of emmigrants through Ellis Island.

[Marris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a really neat book. The author interviews dozens of first generation immigrants from all over the world and you get to read about each of their personal experiences on Ellis Island.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true piece of history!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Very interesting.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book. Very moving. The stories touch home since both my parents immigrated to America in the 20's and 30's.

[Larry · Rating 3 out of 5]

moving first-hand accounts, full of insights and glimpses of life prior to arrival

[Barb28 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and informative read. Thoroughly enjoyed it

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivid oral histories of immigrants from many countries. They came for a better life, to escape conscription by invading (Russians), and heartbreakingly, the endless discrimination.

"My (Jewish) mother kept saying, 'It's the most wonderful thing in America that your child can go to school with gentile children, come home, her hair isn't torn, her dress isn't torn, she isn't beaten up, she comes home, walks with these children in the street.' To her, it was a miracle that nobody hit us."

I remember my grandfather often said "I'm glad I didn't miss the boat," (to America in 1897). He had written that in Romania, he didn't often go to town, because you had to have shoes to go there. My many pair of shoes shame me. These people worked so hard for their one pair, their gift of an orange at Christmas, their ability to afford a cold-water flat.

[Micajah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great material! I love all things history, particularly personal stories, so this collection was a major hit for me! I enjoyed how the stories were categorized by geographical area and were then placed in chronological order. I disliked that the very first section was that of professionals who lived/worked on Ellis Island, I would have preferred to have that part at the end instead. My biggest complaint was that the stories ended very abruptly. I often was confused and looking for more, when in fact, that was all. Rather than including information about the individual's current life at the beginning, it would've been better at the end of each story. This collection is such a treasure. Very few, if any, Ellis Island immigrants are alive today. Being able to read their first-hand accounts is incredibly amazing.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of my obsessions, and this book did not disappoint. A venture into non-fiction for a bit didn't hurt me. However, after a while, each story sounded much like the last one. I came away with a raw sense of the lives and countries these people left over a century ago, and the fortitude that made them move forward as Americans.

[Newt Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This nonfiction work is exactly what it claims: a collection of interviews with numerous immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island. Their journeys are nothing short of miraculous, and kudos to Coan for interviewing them so their stories would not be lost to future generations. I deducted one star because the book’s organization was a bit awkward.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was removed from my library and I decided to check it out. This book was a truly heartfelt collection of impacting stories of immigrants who came to Ellis Island. I have an ancestor who came in through Ellis Island and reading these stories gave me a sense of what they might have experienced. I would recommend this to anyone interested in learning about Ellis Island.

[Sandy Laubach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading about the people that came through Ellis Island to become American citizens and how proud they were to be here.

[Lori F · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to read with lots of details that seemed repetitive.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such interesting stories. I am so happy that we are a nation of immigrants. I believe that is such a strength for us.

[Betty Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Statue of Liberty represents Freedom and America. Chapters are broken into nationalities, from the largest group to the smallest.

[Terrence Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book purportedly included interviews from a variety of immigrant backgrounds. As I was interested in German, Polish and Austrian immigrants, I was disheartened to see that there were only two who possibly were of Christian backgrounds. This was out of 23 interviews. All the rest were Jewish. This is hardly a fair representation of Catholics and Protestants who came to America from these countries. There must have been thousands of non-Jewish immigrants from these three countries. Besides the author's Jewish background, was there some reason why he chose to ignore non-Jewish immigrants from those countries?

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

At least, I think I finished. I wanted to love this book, but it turns out to be quite the beast of a book. Interesting personal histories that give a pretty comprehensive view of immigrating to the US, but it just goes on and on and on. There are so many stories that are similar, so you begin to see patterns, but after a while, you begin to have trouble distinguishing the stories. I liked that it was divided into sections based on countries or regions because it helped to increase my understanding of places I didn't know much about before - regardless of the immigration aspect.