Voices from Ellis Island (NY) -- "I remember my grandfather always telling me how he knew he could be rich in America because he saw riches in the architecture of Ellis Island. He felt that if they let the poor in such a gorgeous hall then life in this country was just." -- Rosanne WELCH, granddaughter of Giuseppe ITALIANO, an Italian immigrant in 1904. "I have a linen bed sheet that is richly embroidered in cutwork, which is typical of Danish needlecraft. The only time the sheet was used was when my mother gave birth to all of us babies in our farm home, because she wanted the doctor to see something beautiful she had brought from her native land." Evellyn S. HUYSER, daughter of John and Ann ANDERSEN, Danish immigrants in 1905. Letter from Joseph MURRAY, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration, Department of Commerce and Labor, Immigration Service, Office of the Commissioner New York, NY, dated November 21, 1906 -- one of those issued daily -- To Hon. Robert WATCHORN, Commissioner of Immigration, Ellis Island, N.Y.H. -- "Sir: I have the honor to report that on Tuesday, November 20, 1906, the bill of fare in the Immigrants' Dining Rooms was as follows: Breakfast: Coffee, with milk and sugar, and bread and butter. Crackers and milk for women and children. Dinner: Beef stew, boiled potatoes and bread. Smoked or pickled herring for Hebrews. Supper: Baked beans, stewed prunes, rye bread and tea, with milk and sugar. Crackers and milk for women and children. The food was well cooked. Each immigrant received a sufficient quantity and the help was attentive and obliging. The rooms were clean." "I saw this man coming forward and he was beautiful. I didn't know he was my father. Later on I realized why he looked so familiar to me. He looked exactly like I did. But that's when I met him for the first time. And I fell in love with him and he with me." -- Katherine BEYCHOK, a Russian Jewish immigrant in 1910. "Every so often somebody called out names of immigrants who were called in to be questioned. I was very nervous because it was so noisy. I couldn't her the names and I was afraid that I would miss my name and remain there forever." -- William CHASE, a Russian immigrant in 1914. Re literacy test cards: Anti-immigration forces had been trying to impose a literacy test since the 1880s as a means of restricting immigration. They finally succeeded with the Immigration Act of 1917, passed over President Woodrow WILSON's veto. This law required all immigrants 16 years and older to read a forty-word passage in their native language. "As for the food, we were hungry enough to eat the other food. But we couldn't eat the bread. Our Italian bread was so delicious. We couldn't understand this kind of soft, mushy bread. And we thought, on dear God, is this the kind of bread we're going to have to eat in America?" -- Josephine REALE, and Italian immigrant in 1920. "We had gotten out of Ellis Island only with bags and satchels, just like any immigrant would come in the old days, carrying a bag, just like Santa Claus." -- Harold PERRIS (born Iparhos PERDIKIS) a Greek Cypriot immigrant in 1921. "When we were getting off of Ellis Island, we had all sorts of tags on us. Now that I think of it, we must have looked like marked-down merchandise in Gimbel's basement store or something." -- Anna VIDA, a Hungarian immigrant in 1921. Ellis Island -- "I remember the terrible rush that the immigrants would make into the dining room. It was generally set very beautifully. There would be dishes and forks and knives and a white napkin. But when the people went in, it was like chaos. There was no order. They would grab the butter. An if you didn't get there early enough, there was no butter left on the table." -- Vartan HARTUNIAN, an Armenian immigrant in 1922. -- Excerpts, "Ellis Island, An Illustrated History of the Immigrant Experience," Chermayeff, Wasserman and Shapiro, Macmillan Pub. Co. NY/NY 1991). ----- Original Message ----- From: "Rose Mary A. (McGrath) Neal" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2007 12:42 PM Subject: Re: [IRISH-AMER] Voices from Ellis Island (NY ) > Jean, > Thank you for this email...how enlightening.... > Ro > "Jean R." <[email protected]> wrote: > Voices from Ellis Island (NY) > > "Those who are loudest in their cry of 'America for Americans' do not have > to look very far back to find an ancestor who was an immigrant." -- 'New > Immigrants' Protective League,' 1906. <snip>