History Overview
An estimated 40% of Americans are descended from immigrants that have passed through Ellis Island, and most of them are from Northern European countries. The reason for their immigration is to start a new life. Between 1892 and 1954, to escape religious persecution, political oppression, and poverty in their hometowns, more than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island to start a new life in America. However, crossing Ellis Island usually represents a long and arduous journey, and the newcomers have to wait in lines, endure medical checks and answer questions from immigration officials.
Something curious about Ellis Island is that it was named for Samuel Ellis, a Manhattan merchant who was its owner in the 1770s. Years later, the state of New York sold the island to the federal government and it was used as a fort and a powder magazine. Years later, the immigration reception was moved to New York City in 1943 and Ellis Island continued to serve as a detention station for aliens and deportees until 1954. In the 1980s, the Main Building and other structures were restored and, in 1990 it opened as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum.
Annie Moore
A 17-year-old girl from Ireland along with her brothers was the first immigrant that was processed through Ellis Island. Moore departed from Queens Town, Ireland aboard the Steam Ship Nevada, on December 20th, 1891. The voyage lasted 12 days, Annie and her siblings even had to spend Christmas at sea. At 10:30 a.m. on New Year's Day, a flag on Ellis was dipped three times to signal the first boat transport of immigrants. The dark-haired Irish teenager was the first to leap onto the catwalk with her brothers in tow. Turning to her left, the young girl ushered her way down one of 10 aisles and up to a desk-like registration desk.
Wielding his pen over a fresh piece of paper, inked Moore's name and those of her brothers, Anthony Philip, along with their ages, last place of residence intended destination on the first page of the first book. Annie was then escorted into the next room where former congressman John B. Weber, federal superintendent of immigration for the port of New York, gave her a ten-dollar gold piece and wishes for a Happy New Year. A Catholic chaplain blessed her and gave her a coin, while another bystander slipped her a five-dollar gold before she passed into the waiting room and the of her parents. Over the next 62 years, more than 12 immigrants will follow in the teenage footsteps of Ellis and an estimated 40% of the country can trace their origins back to the immigration post of New York Harbor.