Next stop was Ellis Island, just about 10 minutes away on the ferry. In case you're not aware, it is nearly half of Americans can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island. I'm just going to type what I know, so fact check me before quoting me or anything on the exact dates and stuff, but I know I'm close. I think I mentioned it already, but stopped our regular homeschool history/social studies, etc. studies and focused on New York for the past couple of months so we'd be ready. Anyway, 3rd class (steerage basically, packed in like animals) passengers coming to America to try and make a new life for themselves all had to disembark at Ellis Island, carrying their only possessions they owned, and hope they made it through. There was a registry, where you told your name and where you were from, who you were traveling with, your occupation, planned destination, etc. A few years of those records were destroyed by fire, but most survived. Ellis Island was in operation from about the late 1800s to the 1950s. They had medical checks also, where if they thought you were sick at all, or had an eye disease, they sent you right back to where you came from. There were lots of looong lines, and even had a huge bunk sort of hall where tons of people could sleep while they waited, a huge dining hall, etc. So that's it in a nutshell.
Anna & Kyla.
Huge, beautiful windows.
This was very, very child friendly; they had maybe 20 of these stations set up, you can see them looking at one below, it looked like a window with a photo of a scene or a person in it, and the lighted transcript that would read to you in an accented, authentic sounding voice. They were primary documents displayed, letters, diaries, etc. This one is from the potato famine in Ireland, a woman begging a family member to help them get to America, because her children are literally starving. Pretty sombering.....Kyla & Anna listened to every single one of them very intently.
The 'listen and learn' boxes.
They also had speakers depecting different types of ethic music that the people brought with them, as well as things like crowds taunting the new immigrants, etc. that would 'blast' you at points as you walked along. These little rolling doors opened up with information for the kids too.
Many of the information signs had a kids' area that was right above Kyla's eye level so that was perfect. So many of the exhibits like this she can't really see because they put them up so high, and for her to get far enough back to read it the font is too small then.
The had things on a lower level for the kids too.... I thought the whole exhibit was really well done.
Quite impactful, a lot to take in & think about.
There was even one of the speaking primary document things from the chief of the Nez Perce tribe. That is the tribe that Kaya (the American Girl Doll Kyla got, which is obviously fictional, but her stories take place and she lives in the real Nez Perce tribe from Washington)
My sweetheart.
Playing trivia questions again at lunch :) We actually ate at the Ellis Island Dining Hall. We stayed there waaaay longer than we thought we would because of the good exhibits & the girls enjoying it. For a having a (very) captive audience, remember we're stuck on the island with just a ferry that comes every 30 minutes, they went easy on us, this was one of the cheapest meals we ate at under $13. I could pretty easily go out to eat with our whole family here for the price of just Kyla & I eating most meals there. New York City IS expensive.....
Our chairs & tables, as well as the art on the wall, were all replicas of the ones used during the peak immigration time at Ellis Island. The view out of the window was beautiful too, of Lower Manhattan, although I didn't get a picture. Most restaurants here wouldn't give me free water either, I had to buy bottled. Ugh. It's ridiculous how much I spent on water while we were there, at anywhere from $2-$3 each. Kyla & I shared some, and I carried a water bottle around some too, but between major security checks a lot of places, and just the weight of carrying everything around for the 12+ hours we were walking everyday, I couldn't always.
Yes, I took pictures in the bathroom, ha! I loved them, and look at that view out of the bathroom window!
The huge registry room.
I loved the huge black & white photos on the walls here. They had these telephones you could pick up & listen to various things too.
This was near where we'd been the day before, the same street we walked on, near where I fell actually, ha!
Anna & Bob were quite interested & used the computers to look up the Capper name (my maiden name). The main registry they found, I believe, was from Ireland.
This was in the gift shop. I need to see if they have it online too, I know several of the museums & stuff said they had neat websites for kids to use at home. We visited the gift shop & got a couple little things, I got a sterling silver charm of the statue of liberty for Kyla's charm bracelet that is perfect.
Saying goodbye........
No comments:
Post a Comment