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THE AMERICAN FAMILY IMMIGRATION HISTORY CENTER™ FACT SHEET
The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. opened on April 17, 2001 an
exciting family history research facility on the Internet at www.ellisisland.org and
at Ellis Island, the only national monument dedicated to the American immigration experience.
It provides visitors with advanced computer and multimedia technology for investigating immigration
history, family documentation and genealogical exploration.
The facility offers the following:
PASSENGER ARRIVAL RECORDS
In this part of the Center the records of more than 22 million immigrants, passengers and crewmembers
who entered through the Port of New York and Ellis Island between 1892-1924 are, for the first time,
available in an electronic database for easy access.
The information from these valuable documents covers 11 fields of information including:
- Immigrant’s given name
- Immigrant’s surname
- Ethnicity
- Last residence (town & country)
- Date of Arrival
- Age at Arrival
- Gender
- Marital Status
- Ship of Travel
- Port of Departure
- Line number on manifest
Also available:
- Printout of above immigration data (free with search)
- Scanned reproductions of over 3 ½ million actual manifest pages (11”x17” @ $25; 17”x22” @$35)
- Pictures with historic information on over 800 passenger ships that carried immigrants to America
(small @ $10; large @ $12.50)
IMMIGRATION HISTORY EXPLORATION
This software program offers a presentation entitled “The Immigrant Experience.” It includes six
vignettes entitled, “Family Histories,” covering the stories of people who successfully researched their
family histories and the motivation behind the desire to search for their families’ roots. It also includes
a presentation entitled, “The Peopling of America®,” offering global migration facts and maps.
FAMILY HISTORY SCRAPBOOK
This area provides Foundation members with the unprecedented opportunity to create their own family history
scrapbooks with personal family documents, records and photos. In order to preserve their family’s memorabilia
and precious records, visitors have access to state-of-the-art computer terminals and electronic scanning and
audio recording equipment. They can also receive either a printout or CD-ROM copy of their entries. General
visitors can have access to this archive on a “read-only” basis.
HOW THE CENTER WORKS
Eleven computer kiosks in select locations in the Ellis Island Immigration Museum highlight the research
activities available in the American Family Immigration History Center and offer a preliminary search to
ascertain if an individual’s records are included in the database. Also included is cost, scheduling and
reservation information. Reservations can be arranged prior to a visit via email at: www.ellisisland.org.
Upon entering the Center (with a $5 entrance fee), a visitor receives an access card, that activates one
of the 31 computer workstations. It provides access to the database and other software programs, as well as
tracks the visitor’s computer usage.
Visitors can also use the card to request copies of the various information they accessed during their
search, either on CD-ROM or in printed form, which is provided for a fee at the end of the session.
A session in the Passenger Arrival Records and Immigration History Exploration database is 30 minutes
in length. A session in the Family History Scrapbook area is 60 minutes in length. Access to these areas
on the Internet site is unlimited.
INTERNET ACCESS
Access to all of the Center’s programs is available over the Internet at www.ellisisland.org. That is, an
individual is able to:
- Research and access family immigration records
- Create a Family History Scrapbook by electronically scanning and entering family documents, photos
and records into a dedicated file (available to Foundation members only).
- View the Immigration History Exploration presentations.
- Order copies of passenger manifests and ships’ pictures reproduced on archival paper, copies of
Family History Scrapbooks on paper or CD-ROM or other Center products.
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About The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. is a
non-profit organization founded in 1982 to raise funds for and oversee the
historic restorations of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, working in
partnership with the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the
Interior. In addition, the Foundation has created an endowment to maintain
the monuments and created the Ellis Island Immigration Museum, The American
Immigrant Wall of Honor® and now The American Family Immigration History
Center™.
For further information on the American Family Immigration
History Center™ visit:
www.ellisisland.org, AOL Keyword: EllisIsland.org, or
write:
The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box ELLIS
New York, NY 10163
Email:
historycenter@ellisisland.org
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Peg Zitko
(212)
561-4517
pzitko@ellisisland.org
Maria Antenorcruz
(212)
561-4542
mantenorcruz@ellisisland.org
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