Blog

These past few months have been a challenging time for everyone. Like most other historic and cultural sites and institutions, our on-site programs have stopped and our buildings are empty. However, at Save Ellis Island we know that our story is more important now than ever. A groundbreaking hospital designed and built to keep infectious and contagious disease spreading to our country may have once seemed abstract, even to those who toured the halls of our Hospital Complex. Now everyone has a greater understanding and appreciation for the tremendous accomplishment that happened on this small island. No epidemic or pandemic has ever been traced back to Ellis Island.

Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, millions of people — in numbers which have not been seen since — came to America in pursuit of a better, freer life.

By the time Ellis Island opened its doors in 1892 welcoming young Annie Moore from Ireland as its first arrival, the fight for women’s suffrage – the right to vote – had been raging for 44 years. The movement began in 1848 when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, among other brave women, held the first Women’s Rights Convention in July in the little town of Seneca Falls, New York (home to the Women’s Rights National Historical Park). In the early twentieth century the politics of suffrage reached Ellis Island as prominent suffragists from abroad were detained at Ellis Island due to their political activities. Since 2020 is the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote, this month’s blog explores the role that Ellis Island played in that long struggle.

The Daughters of the American Revolution or DAR as they are also known, is not an organization that most people would associate with Ellis Island or the hospital that operated on Ellis Island until 1954. In order to be a DAR member, women must trace their ancestors to someone who served in the American War of Independence. Few of the millions of immigrants who passed through Ellis Island are likely to have been candidates for membership. However, the history of the DAR and the history of the Ellis Island Hospital Complex are forever linked.

On October 1, 2019, Save Ellis Island celebrated the Fifth Anniversary of the reopening of the South Side for tours and programs. For 60 years, the doors of the Ellis Island Hospital Complex were closed. On October 1, 2014, we opened those doors and began leading guests behind-the-scenes through the unrestored historic hospital buildings.

Historic building rehabilitation is no small undertaking.  Before work begins, at project initiation, you have to prepare an existing condition assessment.  This Report is a preservation and rehabilitation tool that identifies, describes, and generally evaluates the existing condition of a historic structure and its associated environment.  It is a detailed accounting of the material elements and components of the structure, including its structural system, exterior and interior finishes, architectural ornamentation and features, and building systems at that particular point in time.  Of concern to preservation and design professionals is the cumulative effect of seemingly minor changes over time, which can greatly diminish the integrity of a historic building. The Recreation Pavilion held many secrets.