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Crowds of steerage passengers entered through the original gateway here after being ferried from arrival vessels. Instructions were given by interpreters in a babel of languages.

Huddled on benches, immigrants awaited examinations that would determine whether they would be granted entry. A doctor watched as they ascended the stairs and marked letters in chalk on those who showed signs of conditions needing special inspection.

Interpreters guided immigrants through their medical examinations. The most dreaded were the “eye men,” looking for symptoms of trachoma, a disease that caused blindness. It was the reason for more than half the medical detentions and meant sure deportation.

Immigrants who were detained for further examinations slept here in separate quarters for men and women. Although the process was nerve-wracking, only two percent of those seeking refuge were sent back.

Those traveling beyond New York were ferried to railroad terminals in New Jersey to continue their journeys. Agents could sell as many as 25 tickets per minute.

Here newcomers checked the boxes, trunks, and baskets that held the meager belongings they carried, now all their worldly possessions.

400 years of immigration history are displayed in more than 30 galleries. Exhibits such as The Peopling of America have artifacts, heirlooms, posters, maps, and photos donated by immigrants’ families.

Using computer and multimedia technology, visitors can access passenger arrival records of more than 22 million people entering New York between 1892 and 1924.

To honor their forebears, Americans pay to have their names inscribed on this list. Including the families of John F. Kennedy and Barbra Streisand, this is the world’s largest wall of names; over 600,000.

Daily theatrical productions that are based on actual immigrant accounts are given by actors who who recreate the experiences of Ellis Island. The museum has two movie theaters, a Library and an Oral History Studio with taped reminiscences.