Photos & Multimedia

 

George Kaluski interviews his grandmother, Margaret Kubasczyk, who immigrated from Poland.

Video still: CSI High School for International Studies

Oral History Interviews

Save Our History: Immigrant Reflections From Ellis Island to Staten Island

In the spring of 2008, juniors at the College of Staten Island High School for International Studies conducted oral history interviews with current immigrants to answer that question. The immigrants interviewed in 2008 for this project came from all over the globe—Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and Europe—yet their dreams are very similar to those who were processed at Ellis Island from 1892 to 1954.

The National Parks of New York Harbor Education Center created the year-long project and brought together several partners: the high school, Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island, Save Ellis Island Foundations, and the College of Staten Island. The project was funded by a grant from the History Channel as part of their Save Our History program, which preserves endangered local history through school projects.

 

PBS Produced Documentary

Treasures in the Harbor

WNET (PBS) Host Bill Baker treats viewers to behind-the-scenes tours of New York's unique national parks with the park rangers and volunteers who know the sites best. From the open beaches at Breezy Point and cloistered wilderness of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge to the piney campgrounds of Floyd Bennett Field at the foot of Flatbush Avenue, New York shows off the unexpected natural beauty nestled in its bustling urban landscape.