Gateway to the American Dream: Poignant pictures of desperate and bewildered immigrants landing at Ellis Island
A series of black and white photographs taken by Time LIFE photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt gives a glimpse into the conditions that recent immigrants in the 1950s were met with when they first arrived in America.
For his base of operations, Eisenstaedt chose Ellis Island as it has served as the gateway for the tired, weary, huddled masses that came through the immigration port from 1892 to 1954.
At the time of his photography project for the magazine, politicians in Washington were at a gridlock when it came to discussions over immigrations policy.
A welcome sight: A group of recent immigrants take the ferry to lower Manhattan after passing through the immigration port of Ellis Island
Seeing the final destination: Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt took the pictures on a November 1950 trip
Big batch: A ship called the Saturnia arrives brimming with passengers as Ellis Island was the main port of entry for the millions of immigrants who traveled to America searching for a better life
In an effort to put a human face on the issue, he traveled to Upper New York Bay in the fall of 1950, and the accompanying article writes that ‘Ellis Island is today a gray and gloomy place suddenly full of bewildered people who have become victims of American politics.’
The politics the article referred to was the McCarran Communist control bill, more commonly known as the Subversive Activities Control Act, which prevented anyone from entering the country if they had previously served in the Hitler Youth before the age of nine or had ever been a member of the Fascist Labour Union.
Important cargo: This man and his two children were some of the 12 million to pass through Ellis Island
Semblances of home: There was little the immigrants could do to make themselves adjusted to their new lives in America when all that they had were their few possessions and sterile basics
The problem with both of those stipulations was the membership to both was required in their respective countries. In the case of the Fascist Labour Unions, people had to be members or else they would not be allowed to eat.
Four years after this project- and exactly 58-years-ago today- Ellis Island was shut down permanently as an immigration port and has since been turned into a national park and public museum.
All told, 12 million immigrants had entered the country through the port, and from those lucky ones, more than 100 million people can trace their lineage to the site.
Downtime: Ellis Island served as the entry point for immigrants, and though it was close to Manhattan, it was obviously not close enough as they were essentially waiting to start their new lives
Tucking them in: The pace at which papers were finalized was slowed when politicians tried to stem the tide of immigrants- and communists- in 1950
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