Today in history: January 1, 1892

The Irish potato famine of 1847, with its millions of people pouring into America in a neverending stream, had been the first sign that the country would need some sort of system to register these people, make sure they weren’t bringing in diseases, whatever. Immigrants had always come to America, but it was usually in more of a trickle – rather than a flood, like in “black ’47”.

And so today in history, January 1, 1892, Ellis Island officially opened for business as the primary immigration-registration center for entry into the United States.

The first immigrant of millions to pass through on this day in history was a 14-year-old Irish girl from County Cork named Annie Moore. Three large ships waited to land on that day, and eventually 700 immigrants entered the country on January 1 alone.

Annie Moore was given a 10 dollar gold piece, and welcomed to America.

From American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920, a memory from an immigrant, 1914:

“At seven o’clock our boat lifted anchor and we glided up the still waters of the harbour. The whole prow was a black mass of passengers staring at the ferry-boats, the distant factories, and sky-scrapers. Every point of vantage was seized, and some scores of emigrants were clinging to the rigging. At length we came into sight of the green-grey statue of Liberty, far away and diminutive at first, but later on, a celestial figure in a blaze of sunlight. An American waved a starry flag in greeting, and some emigrants were disposed to cheer, some shed silent tears. Many, however, did not know what the statue was. I heard one Russian telling another that it was the tombstone of Columbus.

We carried our luggage out at eight, and in a pushing crowd prepared to disembark…. At a quarter to ten we steamed for Ellis Island. We were then marched to another ferry-boat, and expected to be transported somewhere else, but this second vessel was simply a floating waiting-room. We were crushed and almost suffocated upon it. A hot sun beat upon its wooden roof; the windows in the sides were fixed; we could not move an inch from the places where we were awkwardly standing, for the boxes and baskets were so thick about our feet; babies kept crying sadly, and irritated emigrants swore at the sound of them. All were thinking–“Shall I get through?”

The “tombstone of Columbus”! Ha!!

To those of you who ever visit New York – I highly recommend taking a trip over to Ellis Island. It’s strangely emotional – you just can feel the ghosts of the millions of people who passed through. They are all still there. The museum does a great job of displaying information, there’s a film to watch, tours to take – it is well worth it.

Here’s an image of the Inspection Room – where each immigrant would be screened by doctors for any signs of illness, physical ailments, disease. This was also where their documents would be checked and double-checked. If they were healthy, and if their papers were correct – they would then be allowed to enter the United States.

And so today, let’s take a second to remember Annie Moore, the 14 year old Irish girl, the first name on the long long rolls of immigrant records at Ellis Island. There’s a statue of Annie Moore at Ellis Island – a bronze statue – which was unveiled by Ireland’s president Mary Robinson in 1993.

Here’s some more information about Annie Moore. My favorite excerpt from that piece comes at the end:

So what’s really important about Annie Moore is not so much that she was born in Ireland, but that she came to America. Someone had to be the first immigrant to land at Ellis Island and as fate would have it she was the one. It might just as easily been someone named Rebecca Schimkowitz or Maria Parmasano. In somewhat the same spirit of commemorating an Unknown Soldier as a symbol of patriotic sacrifice, the story and statues of Annie Moore are intended to remind people of this and future generations of the courageous journey made by countless millions of nameless, faceless immigrants who set out to make a new life for themselves in a strange and distant place called America.

Some images below, including the Inspection Certificate from January 1, 1892, showing Annie Moore’s name (the last image below the jump).

Happy birthday, Ellis Island.