What Was Ellis Island? | Book by Patricia Brennan Demuth

Writing WHAT WAS ELLIS ISLAND?

Making history come alive for young readers is a special joy for me—and never more so than in writing the poignant story of Ellis Island and the millions of immigrants who passed through its doors. From its opening in 1892, a moving human drama unfolded at Ellis Island, earning it two names: “Island of Hope” and “Island of Tears.”

Inside the Book

What you’ll find out :

Great waves of European immigrants flooded into America during the late 1900s and early 2000s.
Most were escaping poverty, war, or hardships in their homelands.
They came in search of the American dream.
Immigrants sailed to America in airless, crowded steerage at the bottom of ships.
They helped grow America into the country it is today.

Grosset & Dunlap, pages 32–33. Illustration by David Groff.

Patricia Brennan Demuth

Book Info

Writing WHAT WAS ELLIS ISLAND?

Inside the Book