YEA~SOFGROWTIl
doors,m or eth antwenty millionpeoplew ai ted
an xio usly initshalls and corridors.Im m igr atio n
o fficers aske dth esepeopleq ues tio ns to find o utif
t heywere cri mi nalso r menrallyabnorm al. Doctor s
examinedthemfo r di sease.A let ter ch alked on th eir
clothin g - Hforh ear t diseaseo r E for t'yedisease-
couldendtheirhopesofanewlifeinA m erica.
Butm o st passedth e exa mina tions. Almost hal fo f all
pr es en t- day American shave ancestorswhoen tered
th e Un itedStates b y w ayofEllis Island. Listento
Leon Stemagain.OnedayIIIt heI970she sto o dIII
EllisIsland'sechoing. t'm ptyGreatI tall andspoke
quietlyofthewayth at i t mad ehimfcc]:
" M ypar en tscamet hr o ugh thisplaceat theturnof
thecentury .H o wcanIst andher e andnotbemoved?
I feci it is hau nted. I t h in kifyo ubecomereally quiet
youemactuallyhear allrh ccryi ng. all the feeling ,all
th e impatience.all the misunderstandingth atwent
onin tinshall.Beingbornagain isnotaneasything
and th e peoplewhocame thro ughhere\verebeing
bo rnagain.This w ast heir gatewaytohope.toanew
life."
T heimmig rants foundworkinb usv cities likeN ew
Yo rk,Chicagoand Pittsburgh- stitchinggarme urs,
feeding fu rn aces.laboringallfacto ry assemblylines,
hacki ng ou tcoal.Theyworkedhardbecau seth ey
want edto m ak eaSUCCl'SSofrheirnewlife.Yet fo rm os timmigrant s t his newlife was ah ardaile.T be y
w ere outsi de rs in as t rang e land.Oftenth eycould
norevens peakirs langua ge .Onlythehardestand
lo w es t paid j o bswereopento them. Like Leon
Ste in'sfather.th ey hadtow o rk for longhoursin
d an gero us co nd itio nsan dto liveinover crowded
sl u msthatw ere breed ingplacesofd iseaseand
m isery.
Yetbadasco nd itio nswere.th eyo ftenseemed
p referabletoth o seth eimmigrants had leftbehindin
Euro pe .In theUnitedSt at est heyw er efr eefrom
relig io u sandpoliticalper secution.Theywereoften
betterdr essedandbetter fedthant heyhad ever been
before. T he ym ar vel edat suchw o nd er s asfree
schools for their children,at the lamps gl o wingalong
th ecitys t r eet sat nigh t s. andatthefact thatsoapwas
cheapenoughto beused bye veryone!Sothe
immigrantscont inuedtopourin.B y 19 10 it w as
estima ted tha t 14 .5percen to f the people th enliving
in theUnited Stateshad beenbornin ot he rcoun t ries.
T h is floodofimmig rant sworriedmanyAmericans.
T hey accusedimmigr ant s of t akingjobsawa yfrom
American-bernworke rs.oflowe ringsta ndardso f
h ealthandeducatio n.andofthrcarcn ing[he
country'str ad itio ns an dwayoflifeb y bringin g in
"uri- Americ an ' politicalid easlike anarchismand
commurnsrn.T heC lill"l)w"Il",,-oIpoli"li...( /hollsll""'$t"~sl, ,,,,(" "J il;" "s ill,,·!lid,
",.myi......ig'''''/s/i. -rd.