Introduction
Hey guys! It’s Mallory with jskstories.com and I’m here to help you see the stories in history. I teach you about historical moments so you can write about them in a way that’s fun and engaging, helping all of us to explore history at a deeper level, and discover and tell untold stories!
Historical Context
Today we are going to be talking about Ellis Island: The Immigration Station.
Ellis Island is an Island in the New York Harbor. Now it’s a popular tourist attraction, but it used to be one of the busiest immigration inspection stations.
Basically, people from other countries would arrive at the Island in massive numbers with their travel and immigration papers, and they would go through Ellis Island to make sure they had the stamp of approval to start their lives in the United States.
It opened in 1892 and closed in 1954, serving its purpose for over 60 years!
This immigration station came to be because people from southern and eastern Europe were looking to move here during both of the World Wars.
They wanted to move here to escape things like war, drought, famine, and religious persecution.
Because of this, people were arriving at Ellis Island in MASSIVE numbers.
They even say that close to 40 percent of US citizens can trace their heritage back to someone who came through Ellis Island.
That means you or me could be related to one of them!
This is just such a wonderful piece of history to find people, stories, and really get your creative juices flowing.
There are so many people that moved here during this time with so many different stories and histories, but I’m going to narrow it down to just a few.
CHARACTERS
The first one is Annie Moore. Annie was the first immigrant to pass through Ellis Island from Ireland at 15 years old.
She travelled with her two younger brothers and was the first to enter Ellis Island in search of a better life.
She is honored with statues and monuments for being the first to arrive at Ellis Island.
The next is Frank Capra. Frank immigrated to the United States from Italy with his parents when he was just 5 years old. He went on to become a famous actor and film director here in the US.
And last but not least, Albert Einstein and his Wife, Elsa. Isn’t that so cool?! So many of these immigrants changed our nation’s history.
Even those who may not be in our history books, worked here and grew here and are our ancestors. Isn’t that amazing?
Those are just a few people you could use as characters when in reality there are so many more to choose from.
More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island. Use your resources and find out even more about them!
STORY IDEAS
Now you know you have at least 12 million characters to choose from, but you also have so many directions you can go with the story.
What was leaving home like? What happened to make them want to leave?
What was travelling like? Was the journey difficult? Did they make friends along the way?
How did they feel when they arrived? How were those first few weeks?
How does this influence the country we live in today?
Honestly, you can go anywhere with this. I’m so excited to see what you come up with.
WRITING PROMPT
In case this seems too overwhelming with all of the ideas you have in front of you, I’m going to narrow it down to one for you in this writing prompt.
Basically I’m going to give you the beginnings of a story, then you get to write the rest of it.
Okay, here we go:
“Annie Moore and her brothers finally arrive in America. They pass through immigration without a problem and are about to start their new lives. What does their first day look like?”
You can go anywhere with this. Let your imagination run wild.
Send us what you come up with with the link in the description below.
Thanks for watching! See you later!