Mrs. Ludmila Kuchar Foxlee was one of the best-known social workers on Ellis Island. Hired by the Y.W.C.A. following the end of the First World War, she was employed at the station from 1920 to 1937. Foxlee made her mark by helping thousands of detained European immigrants of the Christian faith - Protestants, Eastern Orthodox and Catholics. Being a Czech immigrant herself (1890 at the age of 4), Ludmila Kuchar Foxlee understood and appreciated the cultural values, customs and traditions of these newcomers.
Foxlee kept meticulous records and handled an extraordinary number of cases. In the mid 1920's, she caught the attention of the press by posing with newly arrived immigrants in colorful folk costumes and then immediately afterward in stylish American clothes. In this way, she demonstrated the first step many immigrants took to assimilate to their new country. A lively singer and entertainer, she also helped to organize and run the Ellis Island Annual Christmas parties and other festivities set up for detainees and deportees.
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