Ellis Island: Where Love Crossed Oceans and Found a Home
24
Jan

Ellis Island: Where Love Crossed Oceans and Found a Home

How far would you travel for love?

For millions of immigrants, Ellis Island wasn’t just the gateway to America — it was a stage for heartfelt reunions; a promise of new beginnings; and for some it was even the start of new love.

The Kissing Post

The Kissing Post

Perhaps the most iconic symbol of love found at Ellis Island is a spot fondly known at the “Kissing Post”. This area located at the base of the staircase leaving the Registry Room was where countless families and couples reunited after long periods of separation. Here loved ones embraced, and joyful reunions took place after immigrants had passed the inspection process in the Great Hall and were cleared to start their new lives in America.

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Marriages at Ellis Island

Did you know that weddings were also held on Ellis Island? Not all these unions may have been entirely romantic; arranged marriages or picture brides were not uncommon practices at the time. Typically, single women traveling alone were not permitted to leave Ellis Island unless accompanied by an adult male relative. If an engaged woman arrived alone, she and her fiancé were often married on the island before she was allowed to leave.

Valentines Quotes

Loving and Compassionate Care at the Hospital

Some immigrants who did not pass medical inspection stayed at the Ellis Island Hospital to receive treatment in hopes that they could enter the United States upon recovery and reexamination.

While there, immigrants received state-of-the-art treatment and care from USPHS doctors and nurses. The nurses, who were endearingly referred to as the “ladies in white,” were known for their compassion and commitment to their patients.1 As one immigrant treated at the hospitals affectionately recalled, “the care that we got… the kindness that the nurses and the orderlies showed, I'll never forget.” 2

Nurses

In addition, some nurses even found love themselves while working at the hospital. Irene Sabo met her husband while working as a nurse at Ellis Island. She and Dr. Burton Field, a dental intern at the time, met in the cafeteria in the spring of 1945.3


This Valentine’s Day, honor the love that shaped history.

Explore stories such as these and more on one of our guided Hard Hat Tours.

All guests who attend a Hard Hat Tour on Valentine’s Day will receive a special gift from us!

Hard Hat Tour


“Interview with Elizabeth Feczko Martin” by Dana Gumb. The Ellis Island Oral History Project. January 22, 1986. https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/oral-history-library

“Interview with John Henry Wilberding” by Paul Sigrist, Jr. The Ellis Island Oral History Project. May 11, 1998. https://heritage.statueofliberty.org/oral-history-library

Coan, Peter M. Ellis Island Interviews: In Their Own Words. New York: Facts on File, 1997.