This may look like an ordinary child’s shoe, but it has a much darker history. The above shoe belonged to the then nearly six year old Helen Liebenow as a baby, sister of the donor, Adella Liebenow Wotherspoon. Wotherspoon was the last survivor of the General Slocum steamer disaster. On June 15, 1904, fire broke out…

Our new exhibition Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion focuses much on the question of immigration in America: who is allowed, who isn’t, how many people should come, and why. These issues are extremely apparent in the passing of the Chinese Exclusion act of 1882, which barred Chinese immigration into America, and required that all Chinese entering or…

On April 17, 1907, Ellis Island had its busiest day ever, processing 11,747 individuals who just arrived to America. An average day had them processing about 5,000, so this must have overloaded them! According to the Ellis Island Foundation, “During this historic month [April 1907] of American immigration, the Port of New York received 197 ships…

Everyone knows that immigrants came through Ellis Island to settle in America, but where did they go before that? The answer is Castle Garden,  now known as the Castle Clinton National Monument, on the southern tip of Manhattan. Originally a fort, Castle Garden was constructed between 1808 and 1811, and at that time wasn’t even connected…

Natural-born citizens can learn a lot from a naturalization ceremony. We can remember there are 435 members of the House of Representatives, a fact those vying for citizenship must memorize. We can brush up on the words to the national anthem. We can see just how excitedly someone can wave a tiny American flag. But…