Ellis Island

Germans, Italians, Irish and Chinese stood in long queues, all with hopes for the Promised Land.  Exhausted from their arduous journeys, they had to undergo a registration process including a six second medical exam and a language test.  Many would pass the tests, others would fail, returning to their homeland with their hopes dashed.  Still others would find a way to cut through the red tape (see "The Memory Coat" at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2013/05/may-27.html).

The rust coloured brick building, resembling something from 19th Century Russia, served for 32 years as the portal to America for 12 million immigrants (see /"The Ghosts of Ellis Island" at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2012/08/august-10.html).  Now the 27-acre island is the site of an immigration station which traces the history of the immigrants and serves as an archive for their data.

U.S. Stamp courtesy http://www.zazzle.ca/gifts