Ellis Island interactive tour

Credits to Chasseport Deborah

Take on a virtual tour on Ellis Island

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Photos: The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc./National Park ServiceVideos: The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc./National Park Service / Youtube

Step 1: The Passage

A Irish girl named Annie Moore was the first person to enter Ellis Island

1886

Step 2 : The Arrival

Step 2 and 3: The Arrival and the baggage room

Officers wearing uniforms greeted the ferryboat as it docked at Ellis Island. They shouted and motioned to the passengers to walk down the gangplank to the main building. The officers passed out numbered identity tags. The people who did not speak English were often unsure what the officers were saying. The commotion was overwhelming. Men, women, and children struggled off the boat carrying trunks, cloth sacks, and suitcases. They followed one another along a path and entered the imposing red brick building. Wearing their numbered tags, the immigrants entered the Baggage Room on the building's ground floor. They left their precious belongings here until their inspection was done. Next, the immigrants went up stairs to the Registry Room. That is where the medical and legal inspections took place.

Step 4: The Stairs

The immigration process began on the winding stairs that led to the Registry Room. Doctors stood on the second floor and watched each person. They looked for people who had trouble walking or breathing or showed signs of other health problems.

Step 5: The Registry Room

A uniformed doctor looked for any signs of illness or contagious diseases. The doctor noted whether the immigrants limped or were short of breath, if their eyes were red, if they acted disturbed or seemed otherwise abnormal.

Step 6: The medical exam

If someone was considered a risk to the public health, his or her clothes were marked by a piece of chalk with an identifying letter. An "X" denoted insanity. A "P" denoted pulmonary (lung) problems. Immigrants who were marked were taken out of the line and kept for further examination. Immigrants who passed the six-second exam continued through the maze of metal rails toward the far end of the hall for the legal inspection.

Step 6: The medical exam

Step 7: the legal inspection

Step 8: Detainees

For most people, Ellis Island was the "Isle of Hope." But for the unfortunate few who failed the health or legal inspections, it was the "Isle of Tears." Legal detainees lived in a dormitory room on the third floor. They might wait a few days or even a month. Then their case would be reviewed in the Hearing Room. People who were detained for medical reasons were cared for at the island's hospital or kept in quarantine. Some were treated for weeks, or even months. Eventually, a Board of Special Inquiry would review an individual's medical report and decide whether to allow him into the United States or to send him back.

Step 9: The stairs of separation

Step 10: The kissing post

An area on the first floor of the building became known as "the kissing post." It got that nickname because it is where family and friends waited for their loved ones. After months or years apart, they kissed and hugged and shouted with joy and relief. For the immigrants, the long journey was finally over. They were in America.

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