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Huddled Masses: The Voyage to Ellis Island
Between 1892 and 1924, over 12 million immigrants sailed into New York Harbor, watched over by the Statue of Liberty, on their way to new lives in the United States. Driven from their home countries by famine and persecution, they arrived at Ellis Island full of fear and hope, determined to claim their share of the American Dream.
Among the first to pass through Ellis Island was young Israel Baline, a Russian Jew who at the age of just five had seen his homeland overrun by anti-Semitic violence. Forced to flee their village deep within the Russian Empire, the Baline family used their meagre life savings to cross Europe and buy a one-way steerage-class ticket to America. They landed at Ellis Island in 1893, only to find that the streets of New York were not quite paved with gold; the riches they had risked everything for would not be easily won.
Israel Baline may have traded a rural slum for an urban one, but he was an American now. He would not stay impoverished for long. Blessed with talent, spurred by the will to succeed, Israel Baline would grow up to become—under another name—his adopted country’s most famous songwriter.
Among the first to pass through Ellis Island was young Israel Baline, a Russian Jew who at the age of just five had seen his homeland overrun by anti-Semitic violence. Forced to flee their village deep within the Russian Empire, the Baline family used their meagre life savings to cross Europe and buy a one-way steerage-class ticket to America. They landed at Ellis Island in 1893, only to find that the streets of New York were not quite paved with gold; the riches they had risked everything for would not be easily won.
Israel Baline may have traded a rural slum for an urban one, but he was an American now. He would not stay impoverished for long. Blessed with talent, spurred by the will to succeed, Israel Baline would grow up to become—under another name—his adopted country’s most famous songwriter.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
115 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 23, 2018
108 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Jackson
107 books17 followersThere is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
Kevin Jackson's childhood ambition was to be a vampire but instead he became the last living polymath. His colossal expertise ranged from Seneca to Sugababes, with a special interest in the occult, Ruskin, take-away food, Dante's Inferno and the moose. He was the author of numerous books on numerous subjects, including Fast: Feasting on the Streets of London (Portobello 2006), and reviewed regularly for the Sunday Times.
From: http://portobellobooks.com/3014/Kevin...
Kevin Jackson was an English writer, broadcaster and filmmaker.
He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge. After teaching in the English Department of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, he joined the BBC, first as a producer in radio and then as a director of short documentaries for television. In 1987 he was recruited to the Arts pages of The Independent. He was a freelance writer from the early 1990s and was a regular contributor to BBC radio discussion programmes.
Jackson often collaborated on projects in various media: with, among others, the film-maker Kevin Macdonald, with the cartoonist Hunt Emerson, with the musician and composer Colin Minchin (with whom he wrote lyrics for the rock opera Bite); and with the songwriter Peter Blegvad.
Jackson appears, under his own name, as a semi-fictional character in Iain Sinclair's account of a pedestrian journey around the M25, London Orbital.
Adapted from Wikipedia
Kevin Jackson's childhood ambition was to be a vampire but instead he became the last living polymath. His colossal expertise ranged from Seneca to Sugababes, with a special interest in the occult, Ruskin, take-away food, Dante's Inferno and the moose. He was the author of numerous books on numerous subjects, including Fast: Feasting on the Streets of London (Portobello 2006), and reviewed regularly for the Sunday Times.
From: http://portobellobooks.com/3014/Kevin...
Kevin Jackson was an English writer, broadcaster and filmmaker.
He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge. After teaching in the English Department of Vanderbilt University, Nashville, he joined the BBC, first as a producer in radio and then as a director of short documentaries for television. In 1987 he was recruited to the Arts pages of The Independent. He was a freelance writer from the early 1990s and was a regular contributor to BBC radio discussion programmes.
Jackson often collaborated on projects in various media: with, among others, the film-maker Kevin Macdonald, with the cartoonist Hunt Emerson, with the musician and composer Colin Minchin (with whom he wrote lyrics for the rock opera Bite); and with the songwriter Peter Blegvad.
Jackson appears, under his own name, as a semi-fictional character in Iain Sinclair's account of a pedestrian journey around the M25, London Orbital.
Adapted from Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 24, 2018
Oh, gosh. If you're looking for information specific to Ellis Island, this is not the work you're looking for. The supposed topic of this Kindle Single holds promise, but it's misleading. It's even difficult to say what this book is about due to organizational problems and inclusion of irrelevant or only semi-relevant information. It could have taken one angle and followed it through to completion, but instead it is all over the place.
It seems to be about one family, but then it admits that family isn't typical, so it talks about what's typical for other families, but it then keeps coming back to the one featured family. Why not simply follow their story and fill in the holes historical data that supports their specific story, which of course would be interesting? Or showcase the different stories of families/individuals both typical and atypical, keeping the narrative focused on personal experience while enhancing it with broader research? If immigration laws are to be discussed, why not do so in chronological order? Why include long paragraphs about stuff that could support other information in only a sentence or two, which just feels like a tactic to pad the text for length?
Fascinating topic presented in a hard-to-follow format, including a strange outline approach to subheadings.
It seems to be about one family, but then it admits that family isn't typical, so it talks about what's typical for other families, but it then keeps coming back to the one featured family. Why not simply follow their story and fill in the holes historical data that supports their specific story, which of course would be interesting? Or showcase the different stories of families/individuals both typical and atypical, keeping the narrative focused on personal experience while enhancing it with broader research? If immigration laws are to be discussed, why not do so in chronological order? Why include long paragraphs about stuff that could support other information in only a sentence or two, which just feels like a tactic to pad the text for length?
Fascinating topic presented in a hard-to-follow format, including a strange outline approach to subheadings.
December 14, 2018
'Huddled Masses: The Voyage to Ellis Island' is a synopsis of the European immigration experience with a focus on the Russian and German Jew's escape from persecution. The topic and writing style makes for an enjoyable read that is accessible to the novice historian, where dates and figures do not detract from the telling. The range of topics from why immigrants were leaving their home countries, the voyage, the pitfalls, the reception on Ellis Island and the mainland, etc. provides an overview of this transatlantic journey.
Unfortunately, there are some issues with the book:
1. The title is misleading - while the journeys center around Ellis Island, only a handful of pages focused on Ellis Island. Similarly, the book summary implies that a large majority of this work revolves around Irving Berlin and his family. While Irving and his family represent a more focused example of an immigrant's journey to and success in America, they are written in as an afterthought.
2. The flow of the book is disjointed and jumps between subjects without presenting a clear narrative that detracts from an otherwise solid read.
'Huddled Masses' would easily be a 5 star read if not for the want of a decent editor.
tl;dr - I enjoyed Kevin Jackson's book and recommend it to any American in need of a reminder of their roots.
Unfortunately, there are some issues with the book:
1. The title is misleading - while the journeys center around Ellis Island, only a handful of pages focused on Ellis Island. Similarly, the book summary implies that a large majority of this work revolves around Irving Berlin and his family. While Irving and his family represent a more focused example of an immigrant's journey to and success in America, they are written in as an afterthought.
2. The flow of the book is disjointed and jumps between subjects without presenting a clear narrative that detracts from an otherwise solid read.
'Huddled Masses' would easily be a 5 star read if not for the want of a decent editor.
tl;dr - I enjoyed Kevin Jackson's book and recommend it to any American in need of a reminder of their roots.
February 14, 2018
I was hoping for more information about Ellis Island. What brought particular immigrant groups. The story of Irving Berlin was interesting, however, there was not enough about immigrants and what happened with various ethnic groups. Where did they settle other than New York City etc.
August 1, 2019
An interesting short book, but using the story of Irving Berlin as a typical immigrant unbalances the book somewhat
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews