Between the late 1700s and 1924 New York was a key gateway for millions who journeyed to the United States to establish new lives. Today, millions of Americans descend from immigrants who passed through Ellis Island and Castle Garden. Tracing Immigrants through the Port of New York: Early National Period to 1924 details the records and research strategies for use when tracing immigrants who passed through New York City. Genealogists, family historians, local historians, social scientists, and others will find the book essential to their research. Compiled by Anne Sibert Buiter, PhD, professor of Economics at Birkbeck, University of London, during the past 6 years, this unique publication provides an informed perspective on a topic of interest to so many Americans. Part I - The Records, details key sources of information to use when tracing immigrants through the Port of New York: passenger lists, customs records, naturalization records, foreign passenger lists, and other important U.S.-based records. Part II - The People, includes historical overviews and highlights tools and strategies for tracing specific immigrant groups including Irish, German, Italian, Austro-Hungarian, Polish, Russian, Jewish, Puerto Rican, and Afro-Caribbean families.

"Starting in 1820, ships' passenger lists were collected by U.S. Customs officials at all ports of entry. Well into the 1890s, these lists--Customs Passenger Lists--furnish proof of the arrival in the United States of nearly twenty million persons. With the exception of federal census records, they are the largest and most continuous body of records of the entire century. Listing each passenger by name, age, sex, occupation, the country he intended to inhabit, the name of his ship, his port of embarkation, and the date of his arrival, the lists were kept under the authority of the collectors of customs at the various ports of entry, later deposited with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and finally given to the National Archives, where they were sorted and arranged by port, date, and ship, and then microfilmed. The microfilm version of the Customs Passenger Lists for the port of New York--by far the busiest port of entry in the U.S.--consists of both original passenger lists and copies of those lists, depending on which list was most suitable for microfilming. This new compilation by Mrs. Bentley, a sequel to her recent book covering the period 1820-1829, is a direct transcription of the original microfilmed lists (National Archives Microfilm #237) for the port of New York for the period 1830 through 1832. In this one encyclopedic volume are the names--in alphabetical order--of 65,000 passengers with their age, sex, occupation, place of origin, etc., and the names of the 1,700 ships that brought them to New York. Also included is a separate list of ships with the names of ship masters, ports of embarkation, and dates of arrival.Until now these passenger lists have been virtually inaccessible, available only through a somewhat incomplete card index maintained by the National Archives. Along with the first volume in this series, we now have complete coverage of passengers arriving at the port of New York for the entire period from 1820 through 1832!"--Amazon.

An "overview for anyone wishing to trace [his or her] Irish ancestors within the five boroughs of New York City. It is especially beneficial for those researching ancestors from the beginning of the 19th century to the early 20th"--P. 11.

In 1921 and 1924, the United States passed laws to sharply reduce the influx of immigrants into the country. By allocating only small quotas to the nations of southern and eastern Europe, and banning almost all immigration from Asia, the new laws were supposed to stem the tide of foreigners considered especially inferior and dangerous. However, immigrants continued to come, sailing into the port of New York with fake passports, or from Cuba to Florida, hidden in the holds of boats loaded with contraband liquor. Jews, one of the main targets of the quota laws, figured prominently in the new international underworld of illegal immigration. However, they ultimately managed to escape permanent association with the identity of the “illegal alien” in a way that other groups, such as Mexicans, thus far, have not. In After They Closed the Gates, Libby Garland tells the untold stories of the Jewish migrants and smugglers involved in that underworld, showing how such stories contributed to growing national anxieties about illegal immigration. Garland also helps us understand how Jews were linked to, and then unlinked from, the specter of illegal immigration. By tracing this complex history, Garland offers compelling insights into the contingent nature of citizenship, belonging, and Americanness.