Ellis Island is America's most well-known immigration station. From 1892 to 1954 it processed over 12 million immigrants. Millions more were denied entry and sent back to their homelands. It quickly became known as the Island of Hope, and the Island of Tears. Here are some fun facts about this historic landmark. Amaze your family and friends with these fun facts. Reading Level: 6.9

Gives readers a close-up look at the history and importance of Ellis Island. With colorful spreads featuring fun facts, sidebars, a labeled map, and a “That’s Amazing!” special feature, this book provides an engaging overview of this amazing landmark.

You choose which path you would take if you were an immigrant arriving at Ellis Island.

Presents first-hand accounts from the last surviving immigrants.

In the history, the very personality, of New York City, few events loom larger than the wave of immigration at the turn of the last century. Today a similar influx of new immigrants is transforming the city again. Better than one in three New Yorkers is now an immigrant. From Ellis Island to JFK is the first in-depth study that compares these two huge social changes. A key contribution of this book is Nancy Foner’s reassessment of the myths that have grown up around the earlier Jewish and Italian immigration—and that deeply color how today’s Asian, Latin American, and Caribbean arrivals are seen. Topic by topic, she reveals the often surprising realities of both immigrations. For example: • Education: Most Jews, despite the myth, were not exceptional students at first, while many immigrant children today do remarkably well. • Jobs: Immigrants of both eras came with more skills than is popularly supposed. Some today come off the plane with advanced degrees and capital to start new businesses. • Neighborhoods: Ethnic enclaves are still with us but they’re no longer always slums—today’s new immigrants are reviving many neighborhoods and some are moving to middle-class suburbs. • Gender: For married women a century ago, immigration often, surprisingly, meant less opportunity to work outside the home. Today, it’s just the opposite. • Race: We see Jews and Italians as whites today, but to turn-of-the-century scholars they were members of different, alien races. Immigrants today appear more racially diverse—but some (particularly Asians) may be changing the boundaries of current racial categories. Drawing on a wealth of historical and contemporary research and written in a lively and entertaining style, the book opens a new chapter in the study of immigration—and the story of the nation’s gateway city.

From 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island was the gateway to a new life in the United States for millions of immigrants. In later years, the island was deserted, the buildings decaying. Ellis Island was not restored until the 1980s, when Americans from all over the country donated more than $150 million. It opened to the public once again in 1990 as a museum. Learn more about America's history, and perhaps even your own, through the story of one of the most popular landmarks in the country.