• Immigrants awaiting inspection in front of Ellis Island's Main Building

    Ellis Island

    Part of Statue of Liberty National Monument NJ,NY

There are park alerts in effect.
hide Alerts »

  • Ellis Island Closed Until Further Notice

    As of May 2013: Due to the conditions caused by Hurricane Sandy, the Ellis Island Immigration Museum will be closed until further notice. A projected reopening date has not yet been established, follow our twitter account for updates. More »

Collections

Booklet about history of Statue of Liberty, blue
Booklet containing information and history of the Statue of Liberty
National Park Service, Statue of Liberty NM
 

Museum Collection

The museum collection consists of approximately 390,000 individual items systematically recorded and accessible through over 48,000 computerized records and over 1 million archival records. The collection is organized into the categories of history, archeology and natural history.

History:
Objects and archives that document the use of Liberty and Ellis islands from 19th through the 21st centuries relating to their construction, operation and preservation in their multiple functions as military sites, immigrant stations and hospitals, National Monument and symbol, and tourist attractions. Objects in the collection include the personal belongings of immigrants, staff and visitors, memorabilia, fine art, documents, photographs, and architectural elements removed during preservation work done on the Statue and Ellis Island historic buildings.

Archeology:
Archeological items are found in situ within the park and date back to the Early/ Middle Woodland period (783 AD-1156AD) of Native American habituation of region. These items were collected both in systematic excavations or were inadvertently retrieved during preservation work on Liberty and Ellis Islands.

Natural history:
The park has a small, but significant collection of mounted plant specimens that from both Liberty and Ellis islands.

Collection Research and Donations

 
Portuguese passport of Manuel Jose Machado Dos Santos, 1930

Portuguese passport belonging to Manuel Jose Machado Dos Santos, March 25, 1930

National Park Service, Statue of Liberty NM

Archives

The park archives contains over 1 million items including monographs, manuscripts, rare books, government reports, oral histories, architectural drawings, blue prints, and a film collection of slides, negatives and prints.

The museum collection is primarily site-related materials that the National Park Service (NPS) is legally mandated to collect and preserve and contributes to the Park's interpretive themes. Items in the museum collection are preserved so that they may be available for research, study, temporary loan and exhibit for the educational benefit of the public.

 

Oral History Collection

Begun in 1973, the oral history project has grown to number over 1,700 interviews. Each interview includes an examination of everyday life in the country of origin, family history, reasons for coming to the United States, the journey to the existing port, experiences on the ship, arrival and processing at the Ellis Island facility, and an in-depth look at the adjustment to living in the United States. Approximately fifty interviews are added yearly by full time and volunteer staff members.

 

Bob Hope Memorial Research Library

The Bob Hope Memorial Research Library contains books, unpublished manuscripts, periodicals, oral history interviews, photographs, video, poetry and research files relating to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, immigration history and the National Park Service.

Did You Know?

passenger manifest

Since the passage of the "Steerage Act of 1819", passenger manifests have been required for all arriving vessels to be delivered to the U.S. Government and reported to Congress.  This document, used for inspection at Ellis Island, has become an important starting point in researching family history.