Peopling of America Center at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration Opens 5/20
By: Tyler Peterson Apr. 29, 2015
The Peopling of America Center at Ellis Island, new major exhibitions that chronicle immigration to America before the processing station at Ellis Island opened in 1892 and after it closed in 1954, will open to the public on Wednesday, May 20 at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration (formerly known as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum).
With the completion of the post-Ellis Island era exhibition, and the entire story of American immigration now being told, the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration is the country's official museum chronicling all immigration from the colonial era to today. The new post-Ellis Island wing, "The Journey: New Eras of Immigration," focuses on immigration from 1954 to present times. It reflects the rapid pace of technological progress that has characterized migration since World War II and the challenges and opportunities faced by immigrants in the modern world. Exhibits use dynamic media and interactive elements to display the post-war immigration movement and changing demographic trends over the decades. Film vignettes feature new immigrants sharing their first-hand accounts of arriving and living in America. The pre-Ellis Island galleries, "Journeys: The Peopling of America - 1550s-1890," opened in 2011, and explore the stories of the earliest arrivals including Native Americans, those who arrived against their will, and immigration during the Colonial and Victorian eras until the opening of Ellis Island in 1892. First-hand accounts of the immigrant's journey are told through interpretive graphics and poignant audio stories.The exhibits chronicling the period when 12 million immigrants entered America through the golden door of Ellis Island invites guests to relive the immigrant experience as if they were the "new arrival" as they explore the museum and discover artifacts, photographs, prints, videos, interactive displays, and oral histories.
In addition, the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration includes:
· The American Family Immigration History Center, an area where guests can access passenger records of the ships that landed at Ellis Island from 1892-1924;
· The American Immigrant Wall of Honor, a permanent exhibit that overlooks the Statue of Liberty of individual or family names celebrating the immigrant experience;
· The iconic Great Hall where immigrants were once processed.
Tickets start at $18 for adults, $14 for seniors, and $9 for children ages 4-12. Children under 4 are free. Tickets include access to the grounds of Liberty Island and Ellis Island. Audio tours of Liberty and Ellis Island are included. Tickets can be purchased at www.StatueCruises.com. Ferries depart from Battery Park in New York City and Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ.
Videos