Ellis Island is a mostly artificially created island between the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan. It was the port of entry for millions of immigrants to the United States from 1892 to 1924. Sadly, many immigrants, after spending weeks and months traveling to the U.S. were turned away as undesirable because of health or other reasons. This may have been the only view they could see of the promised land.
My mother was four when she and her parents arrived in 1926 from Germany. They were at Ellis Island and she was coughing. Her mother told her "Don't cough, they will send up back." That was my mothers impression of Ellis Island.
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