Most visitors will visit Ellis Island as part of their ferry trip to the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately, for many visitors it seems like Ellis Island is an afterthought. However, for the countless Americans who had family arrive to the United States between 1892 - 1954, Ellis Island is an important pilgrimage. In fact, 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island.

My visit was on an overcast day, with sprinkling rain, March 2015. I was excited to see the island and immediately made my way to the museum, which provides a window into immigration at the turn of the 20th century, it is much different today in 2017! I would love to tour the Hospital Complex, which is largely in disrepair, though restoration work is in the long term plans.

My Great-Grandfather immigrated to the United States and was processed at Ellis Island March 12th, 1909. He travelled from his home in Öland Island (just North of the WHS), Sweden to Liverpool, England. From there the ship (Mauretania) took him across the Atlantic to Ellis Island. He was 21 years old. My Great-Grandmother (young unmarried) arrived a year later and serendipitously met my Great-Grandfather in Chicago. 

Thinking back, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island both stand out as a worthwhile trip, which has special meaning for many Americans and the families of immigrants that remained. As world heritage, I feel the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island have enough difference in criteria to merit separate status.

Yet, there is one truth that makes me hesitate to fully support inscription for Ellis Island alone. In San Francisco Bay there is the Angel Island Immigration Station (1910-1940). The immigrants, primarily from East and South Asia that arrived in San Francisco had a vastly different experience than the immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island. Detentions often lasted for weeks or months, inspections for disease were invasive and degrading, and the rejection rate was high. With the context of Anti-Chinese immigration laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, which blocked Chinese immigrants exclusively for 60 years, an Ellis Island inscription would affirm one narrative of American immigration, while ignoring the other by omission. Therefore, my position would be a joint nomination or none at all.