She likely still would have gone to Ellis Island, but instead of submitting to a complete physical exam and intense interrogation, she would have been waved through rather easily in 1923.

Those arriving at Angel Island had a tougher time of it due to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the interrogation process could be not only intense but cruel with long, inexplicable delays.

Annual arrivals at Ellis Island grew from 200,000 in 1896 to 900,000 by 1905, requiring ever more doctors to perform exams. These took place after the new arrivals had deposited their luggage and ...

In the early 1970s, two high school filmmakers ventured out in a rowboat to make a 16 mm film about an abandoned space nearby: Ellis Island. Skip to content Skip to site index Here’s What They ...