Chapter 1: There’s More Than Moore – The Narratives of Ellis Island
On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore stepped off the steamship Nevada and became the first immigrant to be processed through Ellis Island’s immigration center. This sculpture of Annie holding her hat in the harbor breeze, looking straight ahead at America’s possibilities, is on display at Ellis Island in New York and was created by Jeanne Rynhart. This sculpture celebrates Annie and represents the millions of immigrants who arrived through Ellis Island in pursuit of a better life and the American Dream.
In a History.com post about her life, Christopher Klein writes that Annie was born April 24, 1874 and immigrated from Queenstown, Ireland on January 1, 1892 at age 17. After spending four years separated from her parents and older siblings, Annie traveled to America with her two younger brothers, Anthony and Philip, to join her family. Annie Moore and her brothers made headlines the day after their arrival on January 2, 1892.
In his book, City of Dreams: The 400 Year Epic History of Immigrant New York, Tyler Anbinder explains that even though there were only a few Irish immigrants aboard the Nevada, Annie was the perfect “poster child” for immigration: she had rosy-cheeks, spoke English, and she arrived at a time when Irish immigrants were more integrated into American culture and politics. The lighthearted narrative of Annie’s arrival has been repeated many times, in school reports, Snapple facts, plaques, and even a song.
Yet, the speed and ease in which Annie was processed was not the norm. Emmy Werner details the arduous journey in the book Passages to America: Oral Histories of Child Immigrants from Ellis Island and Angel Island. Many young people who came to Ellis Island traveled in steerage, or third class. These passengers were taken to the immigration station by ferry for medical and legal checks. After their long journey to arrive in Manhattan, they underwent examinations that took on average between three and five hours. Whereas Annie’s experience on Ellis Island was blissful, for many others, Ellis Island was painful. In the detention centers of Ellis Island, “some fourteen hundred children died there in detention” (Werner, xi). Annie’s legacy is upheld, but were parts of her story left out? Annie’s story is well known by Americans, but the realities of many immigrants have been left out of the narrative of Ellis Island.
Donald’s Story
Donald Roberts was born in Pengam, a Welsh mining village, in 1913. He immigrated to the US from Southampton on May 9, 1925 at age 12. Following the First World War, Donald’s father, a former captain in the Army, set out for America in order “to better the lot of the family.” The family was placed on a quota list while Donald’s father went ahead to America, returning after approximately four years, upon which their names were finally called. Donald traveled aboard the Aquitania with his parents and three younger siblings, all six sharing a small cabin as third-class passengers.
The Aquitania arrived in New York on May 15, 1925. Like other ships at the time, the Aquitania stopped “at quarantine in the outer harbor…[and] put up the quarantine flag, the yellow flag, until the ship was cleared to come into the inner harbor” (Werner). At this point, the new arrivals lined up to undergo the medical examination at Ellis Island. Following their medical examination, Donald’s family was detained and his mother was isolated from the rest of the family in a hospital area under suspicion of having tuberculosis. In a separate area from his mother, Donald and the rest of his family were given a small room in a “place [that] smelled of disinfectants, like a hospital,” as Donald later recalled. At mealtime, a whistle would be blown to signal detainees to the mess hall, first passing through “seemingly endless corridors” that were covered with “white tiles.” Each morning and afternoon, Donald and the others “would be let out…for an hour or so to get some exercise in the yard,” which was fenced in with wire, standing around fifteen feet tall. Donald remembered that he was occasionally able to see his mother waving from the hospital when in the yard. Finally, after two weeks of quarantine at Ellis Island, Donald’s mother, and hence the family, was released. Donald notes that his mother never had tuberculosis but bronchitis instead. After their release, Donald and his family took a ferry from Ellis Island to The Battery in Manhattan, taking their first steps into a new country without the fanfare that Annie Moore experienced (Werner).
Previous – Ellis Through the Looking Glass Ι Next – Chapter 2: Historical Context
About the Contributors
Amanda Roman collaborated with Maya Wind on Chapters 1 and 4 of “The Health Experience of Ellis Island.” She also contributed to the overall website design as a member of one of the Design Committees. Read more
Maya Wind collaborated with Amanda Roman on Chapter 1 and Chapter 4 of the Ellis Island page. Maya is a Psychology major and minoring in Business and Liberal Arts (BALA) and Jewish Studies. She hopes that you enjoyed exploring the exhibition! Read more
