Encountering Ellis Island: How European Immigrants Entered America

How Things Worked

by Ronald H. Bayor

A look at the process of entering America a hundred years ago―from both an institutional and a human perspective. Outstanding Academic Title, Choice America is famously known as a nation of immigrants. Millions of Europeans journeyed to the United States in the peak years of 1892–1924, and Ellis Island, New York, is where the great majority landed. Ellis Island opened in 1892 with the goal of placing immigration under the control of the federal government and systematizing the entry process. Encountering Ellis Island introduces readers to the ways in which the principal nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American portal for Europeans worked in practice, with some comparison to Angel Island, the main entry point for Asian immigrants. What happened along the journey? How did the processing of so many people work? What were the reactions of the newly arrived to the process (and threats) of inspection, delays, hospitalization, detention, and deportation? How did immigration officials attempt to protect the country from diseased or “unfit” newcomers, and how did these definitions take shape and change? What happened to people who failed screening? And how, at the journey's end, did immigrants respond to admission to their new homeland? Ronald H. Bayor, a senior scholar in immigrant and urban studies, gives voice to both immigrants and Island workers to offer perspectives on the human experience and institutional imperatives associated with the arrival experience. Drawing on firsthand accounts from, and interviews with, immigrants, doctors, inspectors, aid workers, and interpreters, Bayor paints a vivid and sometimes troubling portrait of the immigration process. In reality, Ellis Island had many liabilities as well as assets. Corruption was rife. Immigrants with medical issues occasionally faced a hostile staff. Some families, on the other hand, reunited in great joy and found relief at their journey's end. Encountering Ellis Island lays bare the profound and sometimes-victorious story of people chasing the American Dream: leaving everything behind, facing a new language and a new culture, and starting a new American life.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, American History

184 pages, Hardcover

First published April 8, 2014

About the author

Ronald H. Bayor is Emeritus Professor of History at Georgia Tech, a former president of the Immigration and Ethnic History Society, and founding editor of the Journal of American Ethnic History.

Reviews

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could have been much more comprehensive and I would have made different decisions about its organization. By focusing on a single decade and a single location the information could have been much more complete. The author chose to focus on larger questions for each section i.e. "How (and Why) Immigrants Traveled to America" than a particular time period. For that reason it could be confusing as to what time in history the author was speaking. What I would really prefer to read are the original oral histories in the Ellis Island Oral History Project, but the only way to do that is to visit Ellis Island or be satisfied with the paltry number available on the National Parks website.

Purchasers of bandwidth (Verizon, etc.) should be required to provide free hosting of this important historical information in exchange for the rights to sell internet service to the public. It is after all a commodity sold by the government (as in the public) to these companies. (Just saying)

However it is a very interesting book.

The title is misleading as the book is also about the immigrants who came through Angel Island in San Francisco.

[Michelle]

Encountering Ellis Island explores the experiences of the millions of Europeans who flooded into the United States in the latter half of the 19th century and well into the 20th century. Mr. Bayor leaves no stone unturned in his coverage of the corruption and the confusion, the controversy and the chaos immigrants faced as they tried to enter the country. His research is thorough and his presentation of it is matter-of-fact. Throughout it all, he strives to debunk certain myths about what the immigrants faced.

One of the lessons learned by Encountering Ellis Island is the fact that immigration has always been and probably always will be exceedingly controversial. Immigration laws limiting who and how many were allowed into the country go back as far as the 19th century. This look into immigration law shows that things really have not changed over the century in that immigration continues to be a political hot button. However, it is the little differences, like the focus on productive members of society, which prove so interesting.

While the title intimates that Mr. Bayor’s book is solely about Ellis Island, in actuality he spends as much time discussing immigration from the West into Angel Island in San Francisco. The differences between the two experiences are startling and sad. While immigrants faced prejudices on both islands, the blatant racism against the Chinese on Alice Island is a blight on the immigration story, something Mr. Bayor presents without emotion.

Encountering Ellis Island breaks down the immigration experience from Europe to New York. It is at once fascinating and depressing. Based on their experiences on the ships, on Ellis Island, and beyond, it is a miracle anyone opted to immigrate to the United States. That so many did is a testament to their fortitude and ability to withstand confusing rules, corruption, and the organized chaos that was Ellis Island.

[Swell Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

With ancestors who immigrated through Ellis Island, I found this book very interesting. Not only does the author discuss the immigrant experience, but also the experiences of those who worked to process them. Fascinating, and I feel like I can appreciate what my ancestors did to bring their family to America quite a bit more,