This is IMPORTANT! and time is an issue here.
I hope many will be conatcted this way, please pass it on if you want to.
Regine
Ellis Island Project Captures Unique Slice of American History
excerpt from an article by Paul E SIGRIST, Jr. Director Ellis Island Oral
History Project -
Published in "The Oral History Association Newsletter", Vol XXXII, Winter
1998
The Ellis Island Oral History Project is dedicated to preserving the
first-hand recollections of people who were processed as immigrants at Ellis
Island, former Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty employees and military
personnel who were stationed there. Begun in 1973 by the National Park
Service, the project staff continues to conduct interviews as well as
provide a significant research resource to the public.
More than 1,600 interviews comprise the collection. Most of these are
accessible as audio recordings as well as transcripts using specially
designed computers in the Oral History Listening Room on the third floor of
the museum, which is open during the museum hours.
The interviews average about one hour in length, although some are shorter
and many are much longer. Most are rich with detailed anecdotal information
about everyday life in the country of origin, the reasons for leaving, the
journey to America, processing at Ellis Island and adjustment to life in the
United States. Interviewees range in age from their mid-80s to over 100
years old. The oldest to date was 107 at the time of her interview.
To make the material more accessible, the project is equipped with a unique
computer system, allowing access by interviewee's name, country of origin,
ship of passage or by year of arrival. Although these interviews are not
presently available via the Internet, cassette tapes and paper copies can be
ordered for a fee. People are encouraged not to ask the staff to choose
interviews for them but to come to the museum to survey what is available
before ordering materials. The project conducts about 130 interviews
annually in the museum's recording studio or in the interviewee's home,
budget permitting. Each interviewee receives a complimentary copy of the
cassette tape, and multiple copies are stored at the museum.
If someone you know is a potential interviewee and is alive and willing to
be interviewed, please send for an Oral History Form from:
Paul SIGRIST, Director of Oral History,
Ellis Island Immigration Museum
New York, NY 10004