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Rare Photos of Early 20th Century Ellis Island Arrivals

It’s no secret that the USA is a country built on immigration, however, I never imagined the diversity of the melting pot of people that were coming through the Ellis Island immigration station in New York during the early part of the 20th Century!

The Ellis Island immigration station processed a staggering 12 million immigrants between 1892 and 1954. Its peak year was 1907, during which over 1 million immigrants, between 3,000 and 5,000 per day, were processed during a single year.

The immigrants mostly came from Europe and its periphery, and most entered the USA after just a few hours of questioning. Some, however, were detained for longer periods.

It was during this detention period that Augustus Francis Sherman, Ellis Island’s chief registry clerk, spent his time persuading the new arrivals to put on their finest clothes or national dress and be photographed by him.

His photographs, which simply had his subject’s place of origin as caption, were first published in National Geographic in 1907.

A most incredible statistic is that 100 million of America’s 322 million people can trace their ancestry back to individuals that arrived in the country via the Ellis Island immigration station. Take a look at these beautiful vintage portrait shots:

 
Click on images to enlarge
A Guadeloupean woman photographed in 1911. 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Left: A Laplander (1910). Right: A Greek Orthodox priest (1910). 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Left: Russian Cossacks (1906). Right: Dutch women (1910). 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Three Scottish boys photographed in 1910. 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
A Dutch woman, circa 1910. 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Left: Slovak lady and children (1910). Right: Lapland children (1910). 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Left: An Albanian soldier (1910). Right: An Italian woman (1910). 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
A girl from Alsace-Lorraine, then part of the German Empire (1906).
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
 
A Bavarian man (circa 1910). 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Left: A Ukrainian woman (1906). Right: An Algerian man (circa 1910). 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Left: A Romanian piper (circa 1910). Right: An Italian woman (1906). 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
A German stowaway photographed in 1911. 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Left: Dutch children (1910). Right: Two pipers - unknown origin (1910). 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Left: A Turkish man (1912). Right: A Gypsy family (1910). 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
Left: A Hindu boy from India (1911). Right: A Romanian shepherd (1906).
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos
A girl from Sweden's Dalama province, circa 1910. 
Early 20th Century US Immigrant Portrait Photos

Source: mashable
Photos:  Augustus Francis Sherman

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