The Hudson River blew a breeze against the M/V Freedom. As it departed from the first stop, the perfect view of Lady Liberty centered through the glassless window of my ferry. I snapped a few pictures of the green giant. The next stop was Ellis Island.
It was my favorite part of the voyage. An unfiltered preservation of past experiences.
Reading the plaques in the various halls was just as fun as playing with the interactive maps
and videos. But I had a few favorites.
“$25? I didn’t have it. I told him I had it but I didn’t have it. I spent it
Charles T. Anderson, a Swedish immigrant in 1925, interviewed in 1985. Presented on a Plaque at Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration. n.d. Anderson, Charles T. Linskaping. “Interview No. 005.” from Voices of Ellis Island: An Oral history of American immigration. Interviewed by Dana Gumb. Brooklyn, New York, Jan. 23, 1985. p. 27.
already. I didn’t have a red cent in my pocket when I landed on that boat.
They didn’t check. He just said something like, ‘Have you got $25?’ So I
just said yes, and that’s it. I had nothing. That’s one thing I put over on
them.”
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