I though this may help someone with their research. Susan Ellis Island Records Go Online -- More Fuel for the Genealogy Boom CINCINNATI, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 17, the Ellis Island records of the ancestors of more than 100 million Americans will become widely available for the first time. Until now, the immigration documents of the 17 million people who entered America through the famed ``island of hope, island of tears'' have been accessible only on microfilm. But Tuesday's opening of the American Family Immigration History Center on Ellis Island -- and its companion Web site at www.ellisislandrecords.org -- puts the actual ship passenger logs showing these immigrant ancestors at researchers' fingertips.