Ellis Island, Lady Liberty, & Liberty Point 6-10-10

June 10, 2010

This was a once in a lifetime opportunity – we took a tour of the hospital on Ellis Island; it is not yet renovated and we were required to wear hardhats. I visited Ellis Island about eight years ago and was curious about the area adjacent to the museum. I also was led to believe that all of Ellis Island was part of New Jersey, I was surprised to hear that the renovated museum belongs to New York. The rest of the island belongs to New Jersey and a group called “Save Ellis Island” is working close with the state to renovate and open sections of the New Jersey side. It would be nice to come back in 15-20 years and see what has been accomplished. I gained valuable information about new arrivals to the island and what happened to them if the failed the mental or physical exam! We were given bags of items, and had to guess who the items belonged to and what they were used for; then we were given a document that gave us additional clues – our items were a head mirror, and surgical tools, and our document was about procedures in an operating room; we learned that we were doctors! We were given a jump drive with all of this information and classroom activities and lesson plans we can use in our classrooms. After the amazing hardhat tour we visited the Ellis Island Museum where I may have located the arrival of a distant relative; I’ll have to do more research when I get home! We saw many artifacts and photos; showing what the new arrivals to America went through and the processes they endured. I was surprised to see the variety of groups that entered the country through Ellis Island just to travel further west to other states.
Some of us went to see the Statue of Liberty; it is somewhat disappointing that we couldn’t climb up into her crown (tickets can be obtained, but it takes 3-4 weeks for them to process your request and there is not guarantee). Lady Liberty is still breathtakingly beautiful! She stands so majestic.
Dana and I went to Liberty Point before heading back to the hotel. We saw the vast emptiness of where the Twin Towers once stood. New construction will take up the void. If you are interested in finding out more you can visit the following websites: WTCprogress.com, tributewtc.org, and national911memorial.org. This is an important event of American history that I want to share with my students.