The Venue

Ellis Island was chosen as the venue for the 2011 Gabby Awards to pay tribute to those who came before us and paved the way for our community’s success as an important part of the American story.

From 1892 to 1954, more than twelve million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island—a small island in New York Harbor, just off the New Jersey coast, and within the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. In its peak immigration years, the island gained a dual reputation as a gateway to the new world for those who made it past U.S. inspection officials, and an island of tears for the two percent of immigrants who were denied access and sent back to their countries of origin.

If an immigrant's papers were in order, and they were in reasonably good health, the Ellis Island inspection process would last approximately three to five hours. For many, the process was much longer than that. Immigrants often waited long hours in lines snaking throughout the Registry Room where inspections took place. When it was their turn for inspection, they were cross-examined by legal inspectors on their responses to 29 questions that the immigrants filled out at their port of embarkation.

After meeting with inspectors, immigrants saw a doctor for a brief “six-second physical” wherein they were scanned for obvious physical ailments. Immigrants were denied entry to the U.S. if a doctor diagnosed that they had a contagious disease that would endanger the public health, or if a legal inspector thought the immigrant was likely to become a public charge or an illegal contract laborer.

Ellis Island was officially closed in 1954. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson declared Ellis Island part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It was opened to the public on a limited basis between 1976 and 1984. Starting in 1984, Ellis Island underwent a major $160 million restoration, the largest historic restoration in U.S. history. The Main Building was reopened to the public on September 10, 1990 as the Ellis Island Immigration Museum. Today, the museum receives almost 2 million visitors annually.