Busiest day at Ellis Island: 11,747 immigrants processed.
Did any of your great grandparents pass through those portals?
CC
17 April 1907
by compound complex 4 Replies latest social entertainment
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Mum
Not mine. On my mom's side, they came from Germany or Switzerland in 1727. On my dad's side, they came from the Scottish Isle of Jura in 1739. We Appalachian Americans did not come through Ellis Island.
If I remember my American history correctly, American factories needed lots of workers at the turn of the 20th century, so they started allowing lots of southern and eastern Europeans in to do those dirty jobs. Now we need workers to pick fruit, and they come from Mexico for the most part. They are treated badly, but, thankfully, keep coming.
To me, there are no "illegal aliens." I'm pretty sure my ancestors were not invited, but they were allowed to live and accepted as Americans.
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rip van winkle
Yes, on both maternal and paternal sides of family.
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Band on the Run
Both sides came through Ellis Island. I was able to go on a tour when it was being restored. It had an ugliness. Items were falling down. A park ranger walked in back so no one would wander off. Physically being there made me appreciate what they endured. My fathers parents lost five children in steerage during the trip here. I can't recall how I ended up on the tour.
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GrreatTeacher
My husband's family came over from Poland at about that time. They settled in a Polish enclave in an East coast city. For many years, they admonished their children to marry other Polish folks. By the early 1990s, it was reduced to, "Marry a nice Catholic girl." So, my husband married a nice Jehovah's Witness. LOL. That didn't go over so well at first.