American Passage: The History of Ellis Island
Vincent Cannato is a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where he teaches courses on 20th century American history, urban history, immigration history, and baseball history. He is the author of American Passage: The History of Ellis Island; The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and his Struggle to Save New York; and co-editor of Living in the Eighties. He has also written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.
Overview
A History of Ellis Island from the 1890s – 1920s
Over 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island from the 1890s to the 1920s. It has been estimated that some 40 percent of Americans have at least one ancestor who entered through Ellis Island. Today, Ellis Island is one of the nation’s most popular historical landmarks and a symbol of the American immigration experience. This lecture will move beyond the myths and nostalgia that sometimes cloud our understanding of this important historical site and give a behind-the-scenes historical look at the operations of Ellis Island during its heyday in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The History of Ellis Island’s Immigrants
Professor Cannato will discuss the types of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island and describe the process of inspection they encountered there. We will learn about the development of federal immigration law and the various categories for exclusion that might threaten to keep an immigrant from entering the country.
In our own time, immigration has once again become a hot-button issue. This lecture will give participants much-needed historical perspective in understanding how America dealt with mass immigration on Ellis Island.
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