Good Living 123

Mmmmmm… Most of us have memories of certain aromas that make us smile, flash us back in time, trigger thoughts of a special person, or even stir our hunger. On the last Saturday of April each year, we recognize one of our special 5 senses.

This is a day to stop and smell the roses, as they say. Or breathe deeply to take in the essence of special spices.

Or recall coffee beans grinding at the front of the A&P. Sometimes, it may be easy to overlook or take our sense of smell for granted… until we catch a head cold!

Think for just a moment about smells that may be special to you. One of my favorites is that moment when my nose tells me that the lilacs have blossomed. I also love the clean, sweetness in the air after a spring rainfall.  Or the waft of a nearby campfire… or even freshly cut grass.

Of course, most of my super scents relate to food. (Oh, such a big surprise!) Very little tops the way the whole house smells when I am cooking bacon. But a hot loaf of bread coming out of the oven comes close. Or a pot of sensational soup on the stove or some other aromatic dish.

I am most grateful that I am blessed with many senses, but today I say a special “thank you” for the sense of smell.

Yesterday I mentioned that Ellis Island had a dark past. Before becoming a major immigration center, it was used for hanging condemned prisoners, pirates, criminals, and mutinous sailors from the early 1800s through 1839. It then served as a Navy munitions depot before being repurposed as a federal immigration station.

Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library

In truth, Ellis Island was not an immigrant’s first stop in America. Waters around the island are not deep enough for the steamships, so ships initially docked and unloaded all passengers in Manhattan. U.S. citizens and all other first- and second-class passengers entered the country there. However, all passengers in steerage were then herded onto ferries and shuttled to Ellis Island for processing.

Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library

Upon arrival at Ellis Island, immigrants were ushered into the Great Hall to undergo a series of examinations for both physical and mental fitness. This is where some immigrants’ tags were marked with chalk and taken for additional screening, hospitalization, or deportation. Though America heralded its open immigration policy, anyone could be denied admittance if it seemed likely that person could become a financial burden for the government.

Despite folklore to the contrary, foreign-sounding names were not shortened nor “Americanized” at Ellis Island. Immigration officers merely checked names against each ship’s own passenger manifest. Name changes typically happened before or while boarding ships in foreign ports.

There are many more “little known facts” regarding immigration to America. For example, women could not leave Ellis Island with a man not related to them. Other automatic detainees included stowaways, alien seamen, anarchists, Bolsheviks, criminals, and anyone suspected of being “immoral.”

In 1790, US naturalization required 2 years of residency and “good moral character. Plus, the applicant had to be a “free white person.” In 1795 the residency period was extended to 5 years and then to 14 years in 1798, but back to 5 years in 1802. In 1870 the right of citizenship was extended to those of African origin.

Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library

To be admitted during the nation’s open immigration years, arriving people had to be seen as healthy and able to enter the workforce. Any sign of declining physical or mental health could get someone deported. More than 60 diseases and disabilities could disqualify a person from entry. Sick children were separated from their parents. Wheezing, coughing, shuffling, or even limping could get a person hospitalized, rather than admitted to the U.S. In truth, tens of thousands of immigrants were hospitalized on the south side of the island, where they were held for treatment and possible deportation. More than 3,500 immigrants died in this hospital.

When the Civil War began in 1861, the demand for workers increased. Pro-immigration Republicans and President Abraham Lincoln advocated for better immigration policies. Progressives championed literacy tests and “various other eugenics-inspired racial and ethnic exclusions of Jews, Asians, and Africans.” By 1875 immigration restrictions included bans on criminals, people with contagious diseases, polygamists, anarchists, beggars, and importers of prostitutes. Ellis Island became more famous for deportations than immigration. In the early 1900s, many Progressives argued that immigrants “impeded the achievement of an ideal society, committed crimes, and abused welfare.”

U.S. immigration sentiment had grown quite negative by April 1917. People sought restrictions, fearing that many of the newcomers were racially inferior. Warnings included the danger of our “melting pot” philosophy bringing an impoverished, criminal, radical, and diseased horde.

In 1921, President Warren G. Harding signed into law the first Quota Act, ending America’s open-door policy. The new law set monthly quotas and limited admission of each nationality to 3% of its representation in the 1910 U.S. Census. By 1925, the government shifted the inspection process from American ports to U.S. Consulates abroad. Ellis Island then operated primarily as a detention and “deportation point for undesirable immigrants.”

Wear and tear took its toll on the buildings at Ellis Island. Eventually, restorations were ordered, and the facilities opened for tourist visitors during our nation’s Bicentennial in 1976.  Some 3 million visitors tour Ellis Island annually. People can access Ellis on the same ferry as the one to the Statue of Liberty. While on the island, many look up ancestors who first arrived there.

If you love ancestry, checking out Ellis Island is a riotous “rabbit hole” to investigate. I had family enter the U.S. there, as did the nearly 40% of American citizens who can trace at least 1 ancestor to Ellis Island. 40%! That’s HUGE! It all started in 1892.

Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library

Three unaccompanied minors, 17-year-old Annie Moore, a teenager from County Cork in Ireland, and her 11 and 7-year-old brothers, were the first immigrants to come through Ellis Island on January 1, 1892. They were among the 124 passengers aboard the steamship Nevada. On one single day in 1907, more than 11,000 immigrants arrived. Ellis Island, named for Samuel Ellis, its last private owner, served as the port of entry for more than 12 million immigrants, until the site was permanently closed in November 1954.

Ellis Island lies between NY and NJ… not far from the Statue of Liberty. Originally 3.3 acres in size, it was intentionally expanded to 27.5 acres to accommodate more people and buildings. Ellis Island sits in the waters of New Jersey, but an 1834 agreement stated the island belonged to New York. A 1998 agreement stated that the original 3.3 acres of land belonged to NY, but the additional 24.2 acres belonged to NJ.

Regardless of which state owned the island, all entrants approaching the United States were stopped for a quarantine checkpoint off Staten Island before their ships were even permitted to enter New York Harbor. Doctors check for dangerous contagious diseases, such as smallpox, yellow fever, plague, cholera, and leprosy. Plus, travelers in steerage and their belongings were sprayed down with disinfectant. After inspection, immigration officers then boarded the ship and began clearing U.S. citizens and all other 1^st and 2^nd class passengers. Most travelers, those in steerage, were given manifest tags to present to U.S. Customs officers to identify passengers. No passports or visas were required, nor were any papers needed.

Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library

80% of those arriving spent 3-5 hours getting through the Ellis Island process and were then admitted. However, the process for the other 20% could take a couple of days, weeks, months, or in rare cases, a couple of years. While waiting, free meals were served. This usually included beef stew, potatoes, bread, bananas, and ice cream. Dormitories were provided for longer waiting periods. About 2% or less than half a million people were denied entry and sent back to their ports of origin.

Arriving in 1916 as a small child, along with an older brother and his mother, my Armenian grandfather and his family were nearly among those deported. That fact is visible today upon examining the records at Ellis Island. Language challenges had made it difficult to help officials understand that his mother had been badly injured by Ottoman Turk soldiers, rather than being ill with some dreaded disease. Though it took a lot of time and tears, they finally were able to find someone who could help communicate, and they were able to join relatives waiting on the shore, rather than being sent back to Europe.

I was most pleased to share their store in the first two books of my Destiny historical fiction trilogy. “Destiny of Dreams” tells a blunt and difficult account of my ancestors’ struggles in Armenia, and “Destiny of Determination” follows the survivors arriving at Ellis Island and building a new life in America. (The concluding book in the trilogy is due for release this Fall.)

Tomorrow, I will continue sharing about Ellis Island. We’ll look at why it earned the “Island of Tears” nickname and how it grew out of its dark past into a popular tourist destination.