The Jewish Chronicle
On this day: Ellis Island closes
November 12 1954: America’s main immigration point shuts after 62 years
November 12, 2010 17:15
November 12 1954: America’s main immigration point shuts after 62 years
November 12, 2010 17:15Ellis Island, sold by New York State to the US government for the princely sum of £5,500 at the beginning of the 19th century, was the main entry point to the US for more than six decades. At its peak some 5,000 people passed through it for inspection each day.
From 1892, when the control centre opened its doors, around 15 million immigrants passed through this island a few miles from Manhattan’s southern tip.
More than two million of them were Jewish, fleeing the pogroms Russia and around Eastern Europe and in search of a better life in the New World.
Many remained in New York, moving to the tenements of Brooklyn and the Bronx. Others went further afield, along the eastern seaboard or out west.
