Some 100 million Americans can trace their roots back through Ellis Island and, for them especially, the museum is an engaging display. On the first floor, in the old railroad ticket office, is the excellent " Peopling of America ," which chronicles four centuries of American immigration, offering a statistical portrait of who the arrivals were and where they came from.
The huge, vaulted Registry Room on the second floor, scene of so much trepidation, elation and despair, has been left bare, with just a couple of inspectors' desks and American flags. In the side hall interview rooms recordings of those who passed through Ellis Island recall the experience, along with photographs, thoughtful and informative explanatory text, and small artifacts - train timetables and familiar items brought from home.
The museum's American Family Immigration History Center ( www.ellisislandrecords.org ) is of great use to genealogical researchers, offering an interactive research database that contains information from ship manifests and passenger lists concerning over 22 million immigrants who passed through the Port of New York between 1892 and 1924.
On the fortified spurs of the island, names of immigrant families who passed through the building over the years are engraved in copper; paid for by a minimum donation of $100 from their descendants. This " American Immigrant Wall of Honor ," launched in 1990, helped fund the restoration and features the names of over 600,000 individuals and families.
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