US immigrants' oral history goes online
September 02 2010 by Liam Clifford
US Immigration - Statue of Liberty
The online family-tracing website, Ancestry.com, has revealed that it will be making the oral histories of a collection of US immigrants available to listen to online.
The immigrants who arrived on Ellis Island to live in the US at the beginning of the 20th century have recorded their experiences for future generations. The experiences make for enthralling stories, with most detailing how it felt to first set eyes on the Statue of Liberty.
The recordings have traditionally only been available to visitors to the Ellis Island Immigration Museum in New York. However, they will now be available to all online. Diana Pardue from the museum, explained that this was the next logical step: "It makes the stories in the oral histories available to people all over the world, not just people who come to the museum."
A large amount of US immigration, largely from Europe, occurred early in the 20th century with the promise of a new life of opportunity and freedom. Arriving on Ellis Island was an exciting and frightening experience for most, especially for the many children who would later become American citizens and continue to live in the US for the rest of their lives, bringing up their own children as Americans.
See the latest Immigration News
