Ellis Island

Ellis Island is one of the highlights of New York—a must see for all visitors to New York. More than 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954 came to the United States in search of freedom and economic opportunity. It is mind boggling to comprehend that 40% of Americans can trace their heritage to someone (often a child) that waited in line in the great Registry Room for their chance to clear customs and be accepted into the land of their dreams. How brave these people were to sacrifice so much to come to the land of freedom in hopes of building a better life for their family.Allow many hours to see this museum which has 200,000 square feet of exhibit space. There are two theaters and the best way to get oriented is to begin your tour by seeing the documentary film, “Island of Hope, Island of Tears.” Rent an audio headset before beginning your tour so that you will understand what you are seeing. Along with explanations of some of the history of the immigration, there are poignant immigrants’ narratives giving first-hand stories (often in very broken English) of their experience entering America.As you walk through the museum, you frequently see people standing in front of a display with tears quietly running down their cheeks—it is quite obvious they are identifying the photographs of some of their ancestors who made the arduous, all too frequently dangerous, journey from their homeland to America. However, even if you are not directly associated with any of these courageous immigrants, you cannot help but be moved by what you see and very proud to be an American.