AT A GLANCE
From 1892 to 1954, a small, mostly man-made island in the middle of New York Harbor acted as the largest immigration processing centre in the United States. In those six decades, some 12 million people arrived at Ellis Island – in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty – with a dream of making new lives for themselves in the land of opportunity. Most were in and out within a few hours, but others had to wait days, even weeks, to find out whether they would enter America or face deportation. For that reason, Ellis Island became known as ‘the island of hope, the island of tears’.
ALAMY X2, CORBIS X1, GETTY X2, PA X1, TOPFOTO X1
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