The island at the center of immigration
by Andrew Seguin
 From 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island served as America’s turnstile to the world. Immigrants from all over the globe passed through the island’s immigration center, many staying in New York and contributing to the city’s cultural diversity, while others set out for different parts of the country and the jobs that awaited them. Students in Class 7 have been studying these immigrants’ experiences, which have become a defining feature of American life.
Brimming with knowledge of government policies and anti-foreigner political cartoons — and the names of ancestors who came to this country — the girls visited Ellis Island and its museum last week to continue their investigation. Prior to the trip, the Class 7 history teachers compiled an interactive exercise that required the students to answer a variety of questions about the museum’s exhibits. These ranged from locating the origins of words derived from other languages, such as jazz, phooey and delicatessen, to analyzing the tests that immigrants were given to evaluate their mental health. The exercise required the girls to put their classroom lessons into action, as well as to draw on their visual-analysis skills.
The girls were enthralled with many of the exhibits, but the rooms in which medical and mental-health exams took place elicited the most visceral responses. In those spaces, eye charts in different alphabets adorn the walls, as do wooden comprehension games, such as one that requires various geometric shapes to be fitted into the proper place on a board.
Teacher Lisa Moy said that the trip is always popular and that the unit on immigration is always poignant. “The girls asked a lot of thoughtful questions about the immigration that’s happening today,” she said. Their questions serve as reminders that history is always relevant, and that visiting significant historical sites can inspire learning in a way that nothing else can.
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