simply samantha: Ellis Island

Z and I tend to shy away from anything too touristy while on vacation, but this time we decided to go all out by visiting Ellis Island located in the upper New York bay. With Z being half Italian, visiting Ellis Island had special meaning since many many years ago his relatives stepped through this gateway to their new life in America. After braving the crowds to board the ferry, we toured the museum and were able to locate Z's family name on the Wall of Honor. What truly intrigued me was the forgotten immigrant hospital on the island that is now closed to the public. Opened in 1902, the hospital was America's first line of defense against contagious, often virulent disease. In the era before antibiotics, tens of thousands of immigrant patients were separated from family, detained in the hospital, and healed from illness before becoming citizens. Symbols were chalked on the clothing of potentially sick immigrants following the six-second medical examination. The doctors would look at the immigrants as they climbed the stairs from the baggage area to the Great Hall. Immigrants' behavior would be studied for difficulties in getting up the staircase. Some immigrants entered the country only by surreptitiously wiping the chalk marks off, or by turning their clothes inside out! Whoa! The things you learn!