Can you imagine leaving the comforts of your home and only taking the essentials to begin a new life in a foreign country? I cannot. Yet people did it by the hundreds. Ellis Island was the goal for immigrants in the 1890’s -1935. Most of the immigrants were of European descent and part of the lower class. Upon reaching Ellis Island, they immediately began the process of being processed. First was the legal exam. Some of the questions that might be asked are: What is your occupation, who paid for your ticket, and do you have a job? The medical exam was the second part of the process. The immigrants were checked for disease, mental status, and physical disability. You might be given a puzzle to complete and timed to see how long it will take you to complete it. If you were sick, you were detained and stayed in the hospital. Lucky for you, the medical staff was top notch at the time. I did not know that there was a hospital on grounds. I was under the assumption that once the immigrants came through the gate and paperwork was checked, you were free to move about the country. However, if you displayed a mental disability and were younger than 12 years old, then you and a parent were sent back to your home country. While going though the processing procedure, if there was a problem, they would put a chalk mark on your clothes. But that did not stop some of the immigrants. One story in the Ellis Island museum told of a girl who had chalk marks on her coat and her family did not know what they were going to do. Someone gave them the idea to turn the coat inside out and she made it through. This is a lesson for my students. There are times in life that you have to improvise and make decisions quickly. Whatever the outcome, you must make the best of it.
Room in the hospital
While touring the unrenovated buildings on Ellis Island, again my mind tried to imagine how people felt. There was one quote on a display that said the immigrants understood the medical staff was only trying to help, but I think I would have a hard time trusting strangers much less have them poking and examining me.
The presentation today made me stop and think how I present information to my students. Our presenters, did not give answers right away, they made us problem solve by gathering information for primary sources and using our prior knowledge. This is a strategy, I need to work on for my students. Most of the time, I will show them a picture and tell them what I want them to gather instead of giving them time to work it out on their own. I will work on this.
As the day ended we went for dinner and ended at Grimaldi’s. We ordered two pizzas and they were ready in no time. It took longer to get into the restaurant. The pizza was made differently. Here they do not put shredded mozzarella cheese, they just put on slices of cheese on the pizza. After dinner we came upon a street party on Pier 17. Everyone was having a great time. I enjoyed watching the people dance and listening to the music. Tonight I experienced another part of New York, and it was enjoyable.
Hey Evie! I enjoyed your account of Ellis Island very much. I too thought it amazing that these people left everything behind in search of a better life. I’m sure since they had nothing to go back to, that like you and I, they would have found inventive ways to go around the problem. Just as the little girl who’s family turned her coat inside out so she might be able to go through the inspection. I agree with you that we need to give our students more opportunity to analyze, discuss, and figure out what their eyes and mind see Congrats on getting on the delicious post!
Can you imagine being a parent faced with that situation? It would be so scary and heartwrenching. This could lead to a good debate among the kids about following rules and when rules should be bent.
Eva, I thought the story of the girl turning her coat inside-out was a creative necessity. I wouldn’t want any of my children to get separated or deported with no one left in the homeland to go back to. I agree we frequently give students too much information – they need to be able to figure things out for themselves as much as possible with the least amount of assistance.
yeah……. okay. what i was looking for was this: i wanted to know the codes that the immigrants inspector used on the immigrants to mark their illness. like, some of them were marked E. what does that mean?
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