Web Resources

Ellis Island: Part of Statue of Liberty National Monument. Retrieved from https://www.nps.gov/elis/index.htm

The National Park Service and the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration host valuable research materials on this website. Available materials include oral histories, profiles of doctors, nurses, inspectors, and interpreters, and a photo gallery. A virtual tour shows the current state of the Ellis Island buildings including the various hospital wards as well as historic images of those same spaces. The National Park Service also runs the Ellis Island Research Library.

Library of Congress. Retrieved from https://www.loc.gov

The Library of Congress has a large collection of materials, including over 8,600 digitized materials on Ellis Island. The collection is broad and encompasses material types including newspaper articles, legislation, video footage, photos, drawings, floor plans of the hospital buildings, maps, audio of oral histories, and personal narratives. The researcher should use the filters to sort the results by format, collection, subject, or date.

National Archives. Retrieved from
https://catalog.archives.gov/

The National Archives collects, organizes, and preserves the nation’s important documents and material. It has a number of records pertaining to Ellis Island. These records date from 1890 to present day. The materials range from building blueprints, images, and government reports. The collection also include material about health concerns and treatment of immigrants on Ellis Island.

Save Ellis Island. Retrieved from https://www.saveellisisland.org/

Save Ellis Island (SEI), founded in 1999, is a non-profit organization and partner of the National Park Service working to raise funds and restore the hospital complex on the south side of Ellis Island. The website describes the ongoing efforts to restore and preserve many of the buildings that are part of the comlex. Some have been open to the public for educational purposes. SEI mission is to preserve the history and story of the hospital complex for future generations.

Statue of Liberty – Ellis Island Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/

The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation was founded in 1982 to raise funds to restore the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Foundation partners with and reports to the National Park Service. It has been fundamental in the creation of the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. The Foundation’s current projects include plans for a Statue of Liberty museum. The website also includes an archival database of over 65 million passenger records. The Foundation also curates other records and artifacts, including ship manifestations and collection of oral histories. The website provides researchers with access to online records and tips and tools for genealogical research.

NPR Podcast

The National Public Radio offers access to thousands of free podcasts. Podcast listeners are able browse podcasts by topics such as Society & Culture and News & Politics. Researchers interested in Ellis Island may be interested in listening to “Art Project Opens Long-Closed Ellis Island Hospital” and “Capturing the ‘Dark Side’ of Ellis Island.”

Bowery Boys Podcast

Beginning in 2007, amateur-historian New Yorkers Greg Young and Tom Meyers dive into New York history in their podcast. The podcast includes over 200 episodes available on iTunes, Google Play, and other streaming services. Young and Meyers cover various New York topics including notable people, events, and landmarks. For Ellis Island, Episode 88 “Ellis Island: The Immigrant Story” provides insight information about immigrants’ experiences on the island, including medical examinations.