Ellis Island
October 12, 2022 | Cindy Kuperus
Second and third graders had a great trip to Ellis Island last week!
They boarded a bus to travel to Liberty State Park. There, they went through security in order to board the ferry. Like immigrants long ago, they took a boat to Ellis Island. Unlike many immigrants long ago, they did not have to ride in steerage (if you don’t know what that is, ask your child to tell you!). Here’s Ms. Mendez’s group:
Students had a snack after their ride. Mr. Hector Espinosa, father of Leah and Ezra at Mustard Seed, met us while having a snack. He works at Ellis Island on Thursdays, and he told us about the history of the island – especially the buildings that we would not be able to enter: such as the hospital and the detention rooms.
Now it was time to enter inside the main building – the same one that more than 12 million immigrants passed through between 1892-1924!
There was time to sketch. One exhibit showed the medical instruments doctors used to examine immigrants, and the wheelchairs from that time period.
Other exhibits showed the different coins that immigrants brought with them to exchange for US money.
An exhibit on the 3rd floor of the museum also showed different personal items that people brought with them from their home countries.
Outside of the museum is a wall of names of the people that passed through Ellis Island. A student was able to locate some names of relatives!
At the end of the day, we boarded back onto the ferry and headed back to school. There was so much history to see at the Ellis Island Museum!
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