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Emigrants [i.e. immigrants] Landing at Ellis Island, 1903

    Embedded Resource

Courtesy of Library of Congress, Abadie, Alfred C., United States: Thomas A. Edison, Inc, 1903

Description

"Emigrants Landing at Ellis Island," a contemporary Edison film, shows a large open barge loaded with people of many nationalities, who just arrived from Europe. The immigrants are disembarking at Ellis Island in New York. The film opens with a view of the steam ferryboat "William Myers," laden with passengers, approaching a dock at the Ellis Island Immigration Station. The vessel is docked, the gangway is placed and the immigrant passengers are seen coming up the gangway and onto the dock, where they cross in front of the camera.

Source-Dependent Questions

  • What do you notice about the people disembarking from the ship? What objects did immigrants bring with them?
  • If you were to leave your home and travel to a new country with only the items you could carry, what would you bring?

Citation Information

Abadie, Alfred C., "Emigrants [i.e. immigrants] landing at Ellis Island," United States: Thomas A. Edison, Inc., 1903. Courtesy of Library of Congress