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The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island serve as the nations two most respected and well renowned monuments. They both revolved around freedom and history. Out of all the most visited places besides Washington DC I have to say that these two monuments are it. Over the years there is alot of speculation of Liberty Island being the place of buried treasure. I do know that many anomalies have been found such as possible buried objects, filled depressions, disturbed ground from archaeological studies. What is even more mysterious is the urban legend about how the Statue of Liberty was really a symbol to abolish slavery nobody knows if the statue was made to represent a black lady holding a torch or show a symbol of freedom to the black soldiers of the civil war. The reason why I wanted to visit here was to see what I would pick up just walking around the island. Sadly I did not get many photos my investigator thought this place was a waste of time and hence that is why he is no longer with us. I feel every place we visit is worth our time. Ellis Island I passed by and I was content because I got to see where my ancestors once landed when they came from overseas. Many of my family members came to Ellis Island to be processed which were of Italian, German and Polish Decent. The Statue of Liberty is not an uncommon site in movies such as Day After Tomorrow, Ghostbusters and even Xmen!! Ellis island gets less attention cause it had dark history. People who immigrated to this country brought disease some came and were deported. There was many lives lost at Ellis Island and many disasters. Liberty Island was known as Bedloe's island formally. It was the site of Fort Wood or another name The Star Fort. Then I have even read horrors about pirates over a century ago being hung on the island. There is supposedly a pirate or two buried on the island. Both islands tell a story one is about our government the other is symbolism. When the immigrants came to Ellis Island they seen the Statue Of Liberty before NYC even. But beyond that lays a darker history as both islands were the grounds for the hanging of pirates. Charles Gibbs was the last pirate hanged in the US and he was hung on Bedloe's Island now the site of the Statue Of Liberty. Visiting Ellis Island today one could look at the buildings and sense a ghost of the past. I seen photos inside some of the buildings and it reminded me of an asylum that's how it looks more or less is like that of an asylum or prison. Today its deterioration gives it an eerie feeling. One of the most famous pirates of all was said to have buried treasure on the island named Blackbeard. A brief history is further below on this pirate.. Some rumors could just be legends perhaps others are true. Its so ironic in this country how almost everything has a dark history and is covered up with statues, elaborate buildings etc. Even today a few of the masonic symbols and hidden writings are throughout liberty island mainly around the revolutionary fort which was designed to protect the harbor in NYC in the 1700s. A great site which has loads of information on NYC is here http://www.ny.com/histfacts/ where both islands just sit a mile away from. As far as the ghost of Liberty and Ellis Island who knows there is energy present at both locations and there is some dark history to both places. When the elevator tenant asked if I wanted to ride to the upper base of the Statue Of Liberty I declined taking the stairs to embrace these energies. I listened to a man talk about how nobody can go up to the torch anymore because the stairs are unsafe. I also was pretty disappointed that the site cost so much considering its a symbol of our freedom yet going through security is worst then even the airports. I think what is fascinating about visiting here is the thought of ghost that could haunt the islands and so paranormal photos or none Its very nice to share this journey with all of our fans. © By Lord Rick In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is being distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for non-profit research and educational or criticism purposes only. Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phone records or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement. NYC & The Journey
Lady Liberty
Below The View From The Statue Of Liberty's Observation Deck Ellis Island
Statue of Liberty History The Statue of Liberty National Monument officially celebrated her 100th birthday on October 28, 1986. The people of France gave the Statue to the people of the United States over one hundred years ago in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution. Over the years, the Statue of Liberty has grown to include freedom and democracy as well as this international friendship.
Financing for the pedestal was completed in August 1885, and pedestal construction was finished in April of 1886. The Statue was completed in France in July, 1884 and arrived in New York Harbor in June of 1885 on board the French frigate "Isere" which transported the Statue of Liberty from France to the United States. In transit, the Statue was reduced to 350 individual pieces and packed in 214 crates. The Statue was re-assembled on her new pedestal in four months time. On October 28th 1886, the dedication of the Statue of Liberty took place in front of thousands of spectators. She was a centennial gift ten years late. The story of the Statue of Liberty and her island has been one of change. The Statue was placed upon a granite pedestal inside the courtyard of the star-shaped walls of Fort Wood (which had been completed for the War of 1812.) The United States Lighthouse Board had responsibility for the operation of the Statue of Liberty until 1901. After 1901, the care and operation of the Statue was placed under the War Department. A Presidential Proclamation declared Fort Wood (and the Statue of Liberty within it) a National Monument on October 15th, 1924 and the monument's boundary was set at the outer edge of Fort Wood. In 1933, the care and administration of the National Monument was transferred to the National Park Service. On September 7, 1937, jurisdiction was enlarged to encompass all of Bedloe's Island and in 1956, the island's name was changed to Liberty Island. On May 11, 1965, Ellis Island was also transferred to the National Park Service and became part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. In May of 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Lee Iacocca to head up a private sector effort to restore the Statue of Liberty. Fundraising began for the $87 million restoration under a public/private partnership between the National Park Service and the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., to date the most successful such partnership in American history. In 1984, at the start of the Statue's restoration, the United Nations designated the Statue of Liberty as a World Heritage Site. On July 5, 1986 the newly restored Statue re-opened to the public during Liberty Weekend, which celebrated her centennial. The Statue of Liberty was closed as a result of the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Although Liberty Island re-opened after being closed for 100 days, the Statue remained closed until August 3, 2004. Visitors now have access to the Statue's pedestal obervation deck, promenade, museum and the area of Fort Wood. Statue Statistics
There are 25 windows in the crown which symbolize gemstones found on the earth and the heaven's rays shining over the world. The seven rays of the Statue's crown represent the seven seas and continents of the world. The tablet which the Statue holds in her left hand reads (in Roman numerals) "July 4th, 1776." The total weight of copper in the Statue is 62,000 pounds (31 tons) and the total weight of steel in the Statue is 250,000 pounds (125 tons). Total weight of the Statue's concrete foundation is 54 million pounds (27,000 tons). The copper sheeting of the Statue is 3/32 of an inch thick or 2.37mm. Wind sway: winds of 50 miles per hour cause the Statue to sway 3 inches (7.62cm) and the torch sways 5 inches (12.70cm). On October 28th, 1886 was inaugurated. President Grover Cleveland accepted the Statue on behalf of the United States and said in part: "We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected." Deeper HISTORYThe Two SistersAmerica probably could not have won its freedom from the British during the American Revolution without the help of the French. France provided arms, ships, money and men to the American colonies. Some Frenchmen - most notably the Marquis de Lafayette, a close friend of George Washington - even became high-ranking officers in the American army. It was an alliance of respect and friendship that the French would not forget. Almost 100 years later, in 1865, after the end of the American Civil War, several French intellectuals, who were opposed to the oppressive regime of Napoleon III, were at a small dinner party. They discussed their admiration for America's success in establishing a democratic government and abolishing slavery at the end of the civil war. The dinner was hosted by Edouard Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye. Laboulaye was a scholar, jurist, abolitionist and a leader of the "liberals," the political group dedicated to establishing a French republican government. During the evening, talk turned to the close historic ties and love of liberty the two nations shared. Laboulaye noted that there was "a genuine flow of sympathy" between the two nations and he called France and America "the two sisters." As he continued speaking, reflecting on the centennial of American independence only 11 years in the future, Laboulaye commented, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if people in France gave the United States a great monument as a lasting memorial to independence and thereby showed that the French government was also dedicated to the idea of human liberty?" Laboulaye's question struck a responsive chord in one of his guests, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, a successful, 31-year-old sculptor from Colmar, a town in the eastern province of Alsace, France. Years later, recalling the dinner, Bartholdi wrote that Laboulaye's idea "interested me so deeply that it remained fixed in my memory." So was sown the seed of inspiration that would become the Statue of Liberty. "To the sculptor form is everything and
is nothing. It is nothing without the spirit - with the idea it is
everything." - Victor Hugo, May 13, 1885 The sculptor who designed the Statue of Liberty, Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi, was born into a well-to-do family in Colmar, France on August 2, 1834. Bartholdi's father, a civil servant and prosperous landowner, died when the child was only two years old, so he was raised by his stern, possessive mother, Charlotte. Bartholdi began his career as a painter, but it was as a sculptor that he was to express his true spirit and gain his greatest fame. His first commission for a public monument came to him at the young age of 18. It was for a statue of one of Colmar's native sons, General Jean Rapp, a leader of Napoléon Bonaparte's army. Even at 18, Bartholdi loved bigness. The statue of the general was 12 feet tall and was removed from Bartholdi's studio, where the ceiling was only an inch higher. The statue established his reputation as a sculptor of note and led to many commissions for similar, oversized, patriotic works. A man of his time, Bartholdi wasn't alone in his passion for art on a grand scale. During the 19th century, large-scale public monuments were an especially popular art form. It was an age of ostentation, largely inspired by classical Greek and Roman civilizations. Most monuments reflected either the dress or architecture of these ancient times, so the artistic style of the 19th century came to be known as neoclassical. The Statue of Liberty would be patterned after the goddess, Libertas, the Roman personification of freedom. But it was a trip to Egypt that shifted Bartholdi's artistic perspective from simply grand to colossal. The overwhelming size and mysterious majesty of the Pyramids and the Sphinx were awesome to the enthusiastic young Bartholdi. He wrote, "Their kindly and impassive glance seems to ignore the present and to be fixed upon an unlimited future." In 1870, with the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, Bartholdi served as a major in the French army in his hometown of Colmar. When the Germans annexed the entire Alsace region, making its residents German citizens, the reality of the word "liberty" took on a new, personal meaning for Bartholdi. In time, France's Third Republic, would emerge out of the ruins of the Franco-Prussian War. Meanwhile, partially as propaganda to advance the cause of those who were seeking the creation a French Republic, Laboulaye suggested that Bartholdi should travel to America. In recalling his conversation with Laboulaye several years later, Bartholdi wrote: " 'Go to see that country,' said he [Laboulaye] to me. 'Propose to our friends over there to make with us a monument, a common work, in remembrance of the ancient friendship of France and the United States. If... you find a plan that will excite public enthusiasm, we are convinced that it will be successful on both continents, and we will do a work that will have far-reaching moral effect.' " Bartholdi responded, "I will try to glorify the Republic and Liberty over there, in the hope that someday I will find it again here." So Bartholdi was now to become a salesman. Armed with letters of introduction from Laboulaye to some of America's most influential men, Bartholdi sailed to New York in 1871. Writing of his entrance into New York Harbor, he said: "The picture that is presented to the view when one arrives in New York is marvelous, when, after some days of voyaging, in the pearly radiance of a beautiful morning is revealed the magnificent spectacle of those immense cities [Brooklyn and Manhattan], of those rivers extending as far as the eye can reach, festooned with masts and flags; when one awakes, so to speak, in the midst of that interior sea covered with vessels ... it is thrilling. It is, indeed, the New World, which appears in its majestic expanse, with the ardor of its glowing life." New York Harbor was the perfect locale, he added, since it was "where people get their first view of the New World." Continuing, he said, "I've found an admirable spot. It is Bedloe's Island, in the middle of the bay... The island belongs to the government; it's on national territory, belonging to all the states, just opposite the Narrows, which are, so to speak, the gateway to America." Intelligent, warm, persuasive and charming, Bartholdi impressed the many prominent Americans he met, including President Ulysses S. Grant, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Horace Greeley and Senator Charles Sumner. His trip across America filled him with amazement. He wrote, "Everything in America is big... Here, even the peas are big." Everywhere he went, he enthusiastically promoted the sketch and a model he carried of the statue as it would appear on the island in New York Harbor. Americans seemed receptive to the idea of a statue dedicated to "Liberty Enlightening the World" (the official name for the statue), but no one was willing to make a commitment of money or a building site. Back in France, Laboulaye was waiting, until the Third Republic became a reality, to publicize the idea of the statue. Upon his return, Bartholdi completed other projects, all the while refining his ideas and design for "the American statue." In 1875, with the establishment of the Third Republic, Laboulaye and Bartholdi agreed that "the lady's" time had come. Because the project would be extremely expensive, they decided its cost should be shared: France would pay for the statue; America would pay for its pedestal and foundation. A fund-raising committee called the Franco-American Union was formed with members from both nations. Elaborate fund-raising events were staged, but
money was slow in coming. Enough was collected to begin work on the
statue, but the goal of completing it in time for America's 100th
anniversary was impossible. Bartholdi selected Gaget, Gauthier and Company as the foundry where the sculpture was to be constructed. Its craftsmen were experts in the art of repoussé, a technique for creating sculptural forms by hammering sheet metal inside molds. Lighter than casting metal, repoussé was the only method available that would allow such a monumental work to be shipped overseas. The intricate skeleton for the statue was designed by famed engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, already known for his brilliant iron railroad bridges and later celebrated for the Eiffel Tower. Bartholdi was chosen as an official French representative to the International Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia in 1876. With three major sculptures on view at the Exhibition, Bartholdi's name was becoming known in America. The 30-foot arm of Liberty traveled to Philadelphia in 1876 as well. For 50 cents, a visitor could climb a steel ladder to the balcony around the torch. A good deal of enthusiasm was generated for the project, since Liberty would be the first statue one could climb inside. When Liberty's gleaming copper head appeared at
the fair, she was a sensation. She wasn't sensational enough, however, to
solve the never-ending problem of raising the money to complete her
construction. Someone with the Franco-American Union had an inspiration: They would hold a lottery. Since very few contributions were coming from France's moneyed elite, the idea of engaging the public's attention with a lottery was a brilliant one. The prizes were highly coveted and valuable, including two works by Bartholdi himself. Additional funds were raised in a manner worthy
of contemporary merchandising techniques: a signed and numbered collection
of clay models of the statue were sold in France and America. By the end
of 1879, about 250,000 francs (approximately $750,000 U.S.) had been
raised for the statue's construction. Enough, most people thought, to
complete the work. At last, in June 1884, Liberty received her final touches. (In May 1883 Laboulaye died of a heart ailment, never to see his dream come to life.) She was dedicated with much pomp and circumstance by French Prime Minister Jules Ferry and Ambassador Morton. But when Bartholdi invited the celebrating party to join him in climbing the statue's steps, few accepted the challenge. Until the spring of 1885, when she was dismantled
for the long voyage to America, Liberty remained in Paris, the hostess to
thousands of French visitors. While the statue was nearing completion in France, little was happening on the American side. The American press continued to be critical of the project, especially of its cost. They couldn't understand why the pedestal should cost as much as the statue itself. Congress rejected a bill appropriating $100,000 for the base. New York approved a grant of $50,000, but the expenditure was vetoed by the governor. Many Americans outside of New York considered it New York's statue. "Let New York pay for it," they said, while America's newly rich, self-made millionaires were saying and contributing nothing. The American half of the Franco-American Union, led by William M. Evarts, held the usual fund-raising events, but public apathy was almost as monumental as the statue itself. By 1884, after years of fund-raising, only
$182,491 had been collected and $179,624 had been spent. It took the
intervention of Joseph Pulitzer and the power of the media to make a
difference. Joseph Pulitzer was a Hungarian immigrant who fought in the Civil War, became a successful journalist and married a wealthy woman. In 1883, he bought a financial newspaper called the World; he already owned the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When he heard that the Statue of Liberty was about to die from lack of funds, he saw his chance to take advantage of three distinct opportunities: to raise funds for the statue, to increase his newspaper's circulation and to blast the rich for their selfishness. Pulitzer set the fund-raising goal of the World at $100,000. In its pages he taunted the rich (thereby increasing the paper's appeal among working-class people) and firmly planted the notion that the statue was a monument not just for New York City but, indeed, for all of America. Perhaps Pulitzer's cleverest ploy was the promise to publish the name of every single contributor in the pages of the World, no matter how small the contribution. The editorial that opened the fund-raising campaign set its tone. He wrote: "The World is the people's paper and it now appeals to the people to come forward and raise the money [for the statue's pedestal]." The statue, he said, was paid for by "the masses of the French people. Let us respond in like manner. Let us not wait for the millionaires to give this money. It is not a gift from the millionaires of France to the millionaires of America, but a gift of the whole people of France to the whole people of America." The circulation of the World increased by almost 50,000 copies. African American newspapers joined in the effort, encouraging their readers to contribute to a monument that would, in part, commemorate the end of slavery. So the money poured in, as single-dollar donations from grandmothers and pennies from the piggybanks of schoolchildren. On June 15, 1885, the Statue of Liberty arrived
at Bedloe's Island inside 214 wooden packing crates. On August 11, 1885,
the front page of the World proclaimed, "ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND
DOLLARS!" The goal had been reached, and slightly exceeded, thanks to
more than 120,000 individual contributions. The architect for Liberty's pedestal, Richard Morris Hunt, was a highly respected and popular designer of expensive homes. He designed an 89-foot-high pedestal that would sit upon a concrete foundation that would appear to grow up from within the 11-pointed, star-shaped walls of the existing Fort Wood. His fee for the project was $1,000, which he promptly returned to the fund to reassemble the statue. General Charles P. Stone was the chief engineer in charge of the entire construction project, including the foundation, the pedestal and the reassembly of the statue. Liberty's foundation alone required 24,000 tons of concrete, the largest single mass ever poured at that time. It measures 52 feet, 10 inches in height. At the bottom, it is 91 square feet, and at the top, it is 65 square feet. The pedestal rises 89 feet above the foundation. The Statue of Liberty began to rise over her new
home in America in May of 1886. It would take six months to mount the
statue to her base. On October 25, 1886, Bartholdi and his wife, accompanied by Viscount Ferdinand-Marie de Lesseps, chairman of the Franco-American Union, arrived in America. They were greeted by the American Committee and Joseph Pulitzer. At Bedloe's Island, surrounded by newspaper reporters recording his words for posterity, Bartholdi simply said, "The dream of my life is accomplished." Unveiling day, October 28, 1886, was a public holiday. The rainy, foggy day could not dampen the spirits of the more than 1 million people who lined New York's streets, draped with red, white and blue and French tricolor bunting, to watch a parade of more than 20,000 pass by. Wall Street was the only area of the city working on the day of Liberty's unveiling. The New York Times reported that as the parade passed by, the office boys "from a hundred windows began to unreel the spools of tape that record the fateful messages of the 'ticker.' In a moment the air was white with curling streamers." And so the famous New York ticker-tape parade was born. Dignitaries from both nations were in attendance. Representing America were President Grover Cleveland and his cabinet as well as the governor of New York and his staff. The French ambassador attended, accompanied by the French Committee. And, most ironically, members of some of America's wealthiest families - the same families who had not contributed a single cent to the statue's pedestal - now jockeyed for seats of prominence. New York, reported the World, "was one vast cheer." Out on the water, the fog rolled in and out. The harbor teemed with ships of all sizes. Bartholdi stood alone in the head of the statue. He was to pull a cord that would drop the French tricolor veil from the face of the statue. For his cue, Bartholdi was to watch for a signal from a boy on the ground below, who would wave a handkerchief. The signal would come when Senator William M. Evarts, considered one of the more talented orators of his time, finished his presentation speech. Evarts began his speech, stopped momentarily to take a breath, and the boy, thinking the speech was over, gave Bartholdi the signal. Bartholdi pulled the cord, revealing the statue's gleaming copper face to the world. Whistles blasted, guns roared, bands played ... and Evarts sat down. When it was President Cleveland's turn to speak,
he said, "We will not forget that Liberty has made here her home, nor
shall her chosen altar be neglected." At the time of the Statue of Liberty's dedication, she was the tallest structure in New York, reaching a total height of 305 feet. It wasn't until 1899 that she was overtaken by Saint Paul's Building, which rose to 310 feet. Lady Liberty remains the visual and spiritual center of New York Harbor. In 1903, one of the most memorable changes to the statue occurred without fanfare or publicity. A bronze tablet was fastened to an interior wall of the pedestal. Cast as a part of the plaque was a poem written in 1883 that has become the credo for thousands of immigrants coming to America. The poem, "The New Colossus," was written by Emma Lazarus to help raise funds for the construction of the statue's pedestal. Today, many people think of the statue and poem as inseparable. In 1916, the World once again raised its voice to raise funds on behalf of the statue. This time, the goal was to floodlight the statue at night. The paper's readers contributed $30,000 and the torch was also redesigned in glass. From the time of the Revolutionary War, the female figure Columbia was generally regarded as the symbol for America, but the statue's increased visibility and popularity during World War I easily shifted America's symbolic loyalties. Liberty's features appeared everywhere; she became a kind of female equivalent to Uncle Sam. To help finance U.S. participation in the war, the Treasury Department authorized using the statue as a rallying symbol on posters designed to raise funds. The government sold about $15 billion worth of bonds, equal to about half the cost of World War I. President Calvin Coolidge declared the Statue of Liberty to be a national monument on October 15, 1924. In 1933 the National Park Service took over its administration and maintenance. The French-American Committee for the Restoration of the Statue of Liberty was established in 1981. Following an initial diagnostic report for the NPS, it was determined that substantial work needed to be done. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation was then formed to raise funds and oversee any needed restoration. As in the past, private contributions were the backbone of the foundation's success: More than $295 million was collected; $86 million went directly to the statue's restoration. On July 4, 1986, America threw a special birthday party for the Statue of Liberty. With a golden sunset glowing in the background, President Ronald Reagan declared, "We are the keepers of the flame of liberty; we hold it high for the world to see." Later, the president pressed a button that sent a laser beam across the water toward the statue. Slowly, dramatically, majestically, a light show unveiled Liberty and her new torch, while spectacular fireworks exploded across the sky. With an entire nation watching - along with 1.5 billion television viewers around the world - and thousands of people filled with gratitude, one wonders how Bartholdi and Laboulaye might have felt as Liberty enlightened the world that historic night. Ellis Island The Early YearsLocated in the upper New York Bay, a short distance from the New Jersey shore, Ellis Island was originally known to Native Americans as Kioshk, or Gull Island, named for the birds that were its only inhabitants. Consisting of nothing more than three acres of soft mud and clay, it was so low that it barely rose above the high-tide level of the bay. The island was purchased by the colonist governors of Nieuw Amsterdam (later New York) from Native Americans on July 12, 1630, for "certain cargoes, or parcels of goods." The Dutch called it "Little Oyster Island," because of the delicious oysters found in its sands, and used it as a base for oystering. Because the island was not good for much other than its oysters - certainly it was not a prime building site - it changed independent ownership many times during the next century. During the 1700s, the island was also irreverently known as Gibbet Island, due to the executions by hanging from a "gibbet," or gallows tree, of state criminals that took place there. By means never officially determined, ownership passed into the hands of one Samuel Ellis about the time of the American Revolution. Ellis tried, unsuccessfully, to sell the island. A notice in the January 20, 1785, edition of Loudon's New-York Packet offered: "To Be Sold By Samuel Ellis, no. 1 Greenwich street, at the north river near the Bear Market. That pleasant situated Island, called Oyster Island, lying in York Bay, near Powles' Hook, together with all its improvements, which are considerable …." Ellis still owned the island when he died in 1794. In his will he bequeathed it to the unborn child of his pregnant daughter, Catherine Westervelt, on two conditions: that the baby would be a boy, and that the child would be named after him. A son was born, but died infancy. Title to the island was then disputed by other members of the family. On April 21, 1794, the city formally deeded the only part of the island that was publicly owned, a narrow strip of mud between the water and the high-tide mark, to the state. (Samuel Ellis had actually drawn up a deed transferring ownership of his island to the state, but died before the deed could be completed.) On this site, considered an excellent defense for the harbor, construction of the first fort on Ellis Island was begun in fear of new attacks from the British. A few wooden buildings and thirteen 24-pound guns were ordered. As threats of war with Britain increased, the island was also used for training recruits. Amid all this military activity, the island was still privately owned property, which was leased for the anticipated military fortifications. To speed up the transfer of the property, New York State ceded its right of legal jurisdiction over the island to the federal government in February 1808. After several inspections by U.S. Army engineers, it was concluded that Ellis Island's position in the harbor made it strategically invaluable to the safety of the nation, despite potential construction problems. But the disputed "rights of ownership" battle dragged on, and anything built above the high-tide mark would have to be torn down if the Ellis family members changed their minds about the lease agreement. Finally, a committee of New Yorkers was appointed to estimate the island's value. The agreed figure was "no less than $10,000," a very large sum for apparently unusable land in the early 1800s. On June 8, 1808, the state of New York bought Ellis Island at the committee's recommended price, and was immediately reimbursed when the federal government took possession of the island on the same day. At last, the task of building the installation that had been approved a year before could begin. After feverish and difficult preparations, Fort Gibson, a full-scale stronghold boasting 13 guns and a garrison of 182 gunners, was in place just before the outbreak of the War of 1812. But Fort Gibson wasn't needed. As the years passed, the army and navy had little use for the island. It was used only to store ammunition until, in 1890, it was chosen by the House Committee on Immigration as the site of the new Immigration Station for the Port of New York. Construction Begins When Ellis Island was finally selected, $150,000 was authorized for improvements and buildings. To make the small, muddy island usable, every penny - and more - would be spent. To begin, a channel 1,250 feet long and 200 feet wide had to be dredged to a depth of more than 12 feet. New docks had to be constructed. Landfill (from subway tunnels and from the Grand Central Station excavation) had to be brought in to create the "ground" for the new buildings. And because there wasn't enough fresh water on the island, artesian wells and cisterns were dug. The first buildings were constructed of Georgia pine with slate roofs. The main building was two stories high, about 400 feet long, and 150 feet wide. Four-story peaked towers marked the corners of the building. There were baggage rooms on the ground level, with a great inspection hall above them. Smaller buildings included a dormitory for detainees, a small hospital, a restaurant, kitchens, a baggage station, an electric plant, and a bathhouse. Some of the old Fort Gibson brick buildings were also converted into dormitories and office space. Personnel included immigration officers, interpreters, clerks, guards, matrons, gatekeepers, watchmen, and cooks, as well as maintenance staff such as engineers, firemen, painters, and gardeners. Scores of doctors, nurses, and orderlies made up the huge medical team. The number of employees varied with the number of incoming immigrants; the average staff ranged between 500 and 850 people. Often, as immigration increased, the need was greater than the staff available. Most workers commuted to the island by ferryboat from Manhattan. When the Immigration Station officially opened on January 1, 1892, its final cost had reached approximately $500,000, and it had become a city unto itself. The 1891 Change in Immigration Law As superior as the new facilities were in comparison to the old accommodations, immigrants now faced stricter laws than ever before. A more comprehensive immigration law had been passed in the spring of 1891. In addition to the previously established categories of "undesirables," inspectors now also screened for polygamists, people with prison records for crimes involving "moral turpitude," and all "persons suffering from a loathsome or contagious disease." The Contract Labor Law of 1885 was stiffened to exclude immigrants who were entering the country at the encouragement of American employers; it was even illegal for American employers to advertise. While steamship companies had previously been held responsible for screening their passengers before leaving Europe, now they were also made responsible for returning deportees to their homeland and for the cost of their food and lodging while they were in detention here. Aliens who entered the country illegally or became "public charges" within a year of their arrival due to some preexisting condition before they landed were to be deported. Additional amendments were added to the law in 1893. The combination of this stricter law, a cholera scare in 1892, and the financial panic of 1893, followed by several years of economic depression, began to show its effect. The number of immigrants arriving in New York consistently decreased until the turn of the century. In 1892, Ellis Island received 445,987 incoming foreigners; in contrast, only 178,748 immigrants were processed at the station in 1898. The Fire of 1897 Fortunately, there were only 200 people on Ellis Island the night of June 14, 1897. Shortly after midnight, without warning, a disastrous fire broke out. The buildings of pine went up in flames as if they had been made of paper. The slate roof of the main building crashed in within an hour, and by dawn there was hardly a trace of the station left. Yet not one life was lost. Congress immediately appropriated $600,000 to replace the lost structures with fireproof buildings. During the two and a half years it took to rebuild Ellis Island, the processing of immigrants was again conducted at the old Barge Office in Battery Park. From the Ashes Five architectural firms in New York City entered
the government's competition to rebuild the structures on Ellis Island; a
small firm called Boring & Tilton won the assignment. Notable for its four cupola-type towers and the large, light, and airy second-floor Registry Room, (click for 76k jpeg) the Main Building was 338 feet long and 168 feet wide. A dramatic vaulted ceiling was installed in 1918 and carefully tiled by a family who were themselves immigrants from Spain, the Guastavinos. Using a peculiar technique of vaulting, which involved weaving three layers of tiles together, the ceiling crept out from the side walls like a vine, without the support of central scaffolding. Dormitories were added on the floor above the Registry Room. Other floors housed administrative offices, records rooms, and special inquiry board hearing rooms. The entire first floor was used as a baggage receiving room and railroad ticket office. The original island was increased to 10 acres with the addition of the 3-acre Island Number 2. This second island included hospital wards and an administration building. A third island of five acres was added in 1910 with additional hospital facilities for isolating immigrants with contagious diseases. The new Ellis Island Immigration Station cost more than $1.5 million to complete. It reopened on December 17, 1900. Despite the unquestioned physical superiority of the new immigration station, one "oversight" was to have repercussions for years to come. In planning the reconstruction, officials calculated that no more than one-half million immigrants a year would pass through New York on their way to new lives in America. It was a gross miscalculation. "A Den of Thieves" As gracious as the new receiving station appeared on the outside, its insides were riddled with graft, corruption, and cruelty for the next few years. Inspectors demanded bribes from immigrants who appeared to have money; if the bribe was questioned, or slow in coming, an immigrant was detained. Other inspectors would admit pretty young girls, on the condition that the girls meet them later at a hotel. Railroad agents sold tickets at inflated prices. Immigrants were compelled to buy box lunches they didn't want for many times their value. Employees at the Money Exchange simply lied about the exchange rates and then pocketed the difference. Some American immigration inspectors were discovered issuing fake certificates of citizenship for a fee and splitting the profits with ship officers. When, in 1901, this greed-infested situation was brought to the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt, the cleanup of Ellis Island began within a month. Several senior officials, including the Commissioner of Immigration and the head of the Bureau of Immigration in Washington, were replaced. Cleaning Up the Corruption In April 1902, William Williams, a young Wall Street lawyer, was appointed as the new commissioner. Almost overnight, his new broom swept Ellis Island clean. He awarded new contracts for the food, money exchange, and baggage concessions solely on the basis of merit. He wanted the immigrants to have only the best service available. Employees were harshly reprimanded for drunkenness (once quite common), forbidden special favors (such as free passes from the railroads), and constantly reminded to treat immigrants with "kindness and consideration" (large signs were placed everywhere). Within a few months his reform policies had completely changed the atmosphere at Ellis Island. And not a moment too soon, for the island's busiest years were still ahead. The War Years With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, immigration to America all but ceased. Many European nations closed their borders, seas were unsafe to travel, and unemployment in America was on the rise. Ellis Island became host to those who could not be admitted to the United States yet could not be returned to their original homes. It served as an internment center for 1,500 German sailors and 2,200 suspected "aliens and spies." The large hospital was turned over to the War and Navy departments for the care of almost 700 wounded soldiers and sailors. Then a second catastrophe struck the island, again under the dark of night. A Second Threat of Oblivion The Ellis Island Immigration Station was almost blown out of existence on July 30, 1916. Black Tom Wharf, a railroad yard and barge-loading area, was located on the New Jersey shore only a few hundred yards from Ellis Island. Here railroad cars and 14 barges loaded with dynamite and munitions awaited transfer to freighters in the bay. At about two o'clock in the morning, saboteurs exploded the cargo, resulting in two separate shocks of such magnitude that they were felt in Philadelphia, 90 miles away. Bullets, bombs, and shells exploded into the air for hours. Nearly 500 immigrants and 125 employees were asleep when the first blast erupted. Almost every window on the island was broken instantly. Doors jammed inward, and parts of roofs collapsed. With shells flying over their heads like fireworks, the staff led the immigrants to safety at the eastern corner of the island and, from there, onto ferries that took them to the Manhattan Barge Office. No one was seriously injured, but the damage on Ellis Island amounted to $400,000. The saboteurs were never apprehended. With the end of the "Great War," many Americans were eager to see immigration restricted. Organizations like the Immigration Restriction League joined their voices with those of labor organizations anxious to reduce the number of incoming immigrants. In 1917, legislation was passed that specified 33 classes of foreigners who could not be admitted, and demanded literacy testing. The new law greatly reduced the number of immigrants for a while, but by 1921 the number of arrivals once again climbed to 500,000. New, stricter laws were enacted in 1921 and again in 1924. A final revision, adding a quota system, went into effect in 1924. Another provision of the new law, stating that every immigrant was now to be inspected at the American consular office in the immigrant's country of origin, rather than on arrival in America, changed the immigration system forever. Proposals to close Ellis Island were made as early as 1925, but immigrant processing did not cease entirely until the end of 1954, when only 21,500 immigrants in all classes passed through its portals. In its final years, part of Ellis Island was used as a Coast Guard station. During World War II, the island served as a detention center for enemy aliens. Then, in March 1955, Ellis Island was declared surplus property by the federal government and was turned over to the General Services Administration. A major era in American history had come to a close. Rebirth and Renewal For more than 20 years, Ellis Island was abandoned. Heat, water, and electricity were turned off, and only the ghosts of more than 12 million immigrant souls walked its halls. Attempts to sell the property were made, but many bitterly opposed the idea, claiming, "To sell the island would be cheap and tawdry." A study by the National Park Service (NPS) was conducted during 1963-1964, outlining why the island should become a national monument as a reminder of part of our American heritage. The recommendation was accepted, and President Lyndon Johnson officially proclaimed Ellis Island part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument on May 11, 1965. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan asked Lee Iacocca, chairman of the board of Chrysler Corporation of America, to undertake a private sector fund-raising effort to restore both the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation was formed to raise the $230 million needed for the restoration of these two important national monuments. In the largest restoration project of its kind in American history, $170 million in individual and corporate donations were devoted to the Ellis Island main building project alone. To date, more than 20 million Americans have contributed to the restoration plans of the Foundation. Ellis Island was reopened and dedicated on September 10, 1990, as a unit of the U.S. Department of the Interior's National Park Service, administered by the superintendent of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island. Today, preservation efforts continue. The island's remaining abandoned buildings are currently being stabilized, and rehabilitation of some is already under way.
Blackbeard the Pirate . . . and the Presumed Wreck of Queen Anne's Revenge. http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/sections/maritime/blackbeard/default.htm During
The Golden Age of Piracy (1689-1718), numerous rogues pursued their
lawless and murderous trade throughout the New World. Restrictive laws
passed by the British Parliament had made smuggling acceptable and even
desirable in North Carolina and the other American colonies. Preying upon
lightly armed merchant ships, the pirates seized their contents and
sometimes killed those who resisted. Because of its shallow sounds and
inlets, North Carolina's Outer Banks became a haven for many of these
outlaws in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Blackbeard was the most notorious pirate in the history of
seafaring. With a beard that almost covered his face, he would strike
terror into the hearts of his victims, according to some early accounts,
by weaving wicks laced with gunpowder into his hair, and lighting them
during battle. A big man, he added to his menacing appearance by wearing a
crimson coat, two swords at his waist, and bandoleers stuffed with
numerous pistols and knives across his chest.
The sight of Blackbeard was enough to make most of his victims
surrender without a fight. If they gave up peacefully, he would usually
take their valuables, navigational instruments, weapons, and rum before
allowing them to sail away. If they resisted, he would often maroon the
crews and burn their ship. Blackbeard worked hard at establishing his
devilish image, but there is no archival evidence to indicate that he ever
killed anyone who was not trying to kill him.
Blackbeard's lawless career lasted only a few years, but his fearsome
reputation has long outlived him. Thought to have been a native of
England, he was using the name Edward Teach (or Thatch) when he began his
pirating sometime after 1713 as a crewman aboard a Jamaican sloop
commanded by the pirate Benjamin Hornigold. In 1716 Hornigold appointed
Teach to command a captured vessel. By mid-1717 the two, sailing in
concert, were among the most feared pirates of their day.
In November 1717, in the eastern Caribbean, Hornigold and Teach took a
26-gun, richly laden French "guineyman" called the Concorde
(research indicated she had originally been built in Great Britain).
Hornigold subsequently decided to accept the British Crown's recent offer
of a general amnesty and retire as a pirate. Teach rejected a pardon,
decided to make the Concorde his flagship, increased her armament
to 40 guns, and renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge or (QAR).
Shortly thereafter, the QAR encountered another vessel flying
the black flag. She was the ten-gun pirate sloop Revenge from
Barbados, commanded by Stede Bonnet, "The Gentleman Pirate."
Bonnet had been an educated and wealthy landowner before turning to
piracy. After inviting the Revenge to sail along with the QAR,
Blackbeard soon realized that Bonnet was a poor leader and an incompetent
sailor. He appointed another pirate to command Revenge, and forced
Bonnet to become a "guest" aboard QAR, where he remained,
a virtual prisoner, until she wrecked six months later.
During the winter of 1717-1718, the QAR and Revenge
cruised the Caribbean, taking prizes. Along the way, Blackbeard decided to
keep two more smaller captured vessels. When he sailed northward up the
American coast in the spring of 1718, he was in command of four vessels
and over 300 pirates.
Blackbeard's reign of terror climaxed in a week-long blockade of the
port of Charleston, S.C. in late May 1718. One week later, the QAR
was lost at Beaufort Inlet. One of the smaller vessels in Blackbeard's
flotilla, the ten-gun sloop Adventure, was lost the same day while
trying to assist the stranded flagship.
Before leaving Beaufort Inlet, Blackbeard marooned about 25 disgruntled
pirates on a deserted sandbar, stripped Bonnet's sloop the Revenge of her
provisions, and absconded with much of the accumulated booty aboard
another smaller vessel. Bonnet rescued the marooned men and, with them,
resumed his lawless ways aboard the Revenge, which he re-named the Royal
James.
In October 1718, Bonnet and his crew were captured near present-day
Wilmington, North Carolina, and taken to Charleston, where they were tried
for piracy. All except four were found guilty. All of the rest except
Bonnet were hanged that November 8th. (The record of that trial, published
in London in 1719, provided researchers with important clues to the
location of the QAR site.) Bonnet escaped briefly, but was
recaptured and then hanged on December 10, 1718.
Meanwhile, Blackbeard and his confidants had sailed to Bath, then the
capital of North Carolina, where they received pardons from Governor
Charles Eden. In November 1718, Governor Alexander Spottswood of Virginia,
knowing that Blackbeard and his men had continued taking ships long after
the period of amnesty had expired, sent a Royal Navy contingent to North
Carolina, where Blackbeard was killed in a bloody battle at Ocracoke Inlet
on November 22, 1718. During the action, Blackbeard received a reported
five musketball wounds and more than 20 sword lacerations before dying.
Blackbeard had captured over 40 ships during his piratical career, and his
death virtually represented the end of an era in the history of piracy in
the New World.
FACT SHEET Little is known concerning the origin of Blackbeard the pirate.
Documents suggest both Bristol and London in England, the island of
Jamaica, and even Philadelphia as his home. He is said to have operated
out of Jamaica as a privateer during Queen Anne's War (1702-1713) previous
to having been a pirate.
Historical sources vary as to Blackbeard's real name. Though most
publications mentioning the pirate by name over the past couple of
centuries have identified him as Edward Teach, the majority of
primary source documents written during the time of his activities
indicate that "Thatch" or some other phonetic derivation (i.e.,
Thach, Thache, etc.), was actually the name he was going by at the time.
The name Drummond is mentioned by one early source, but this is not
supported by the vast volume of other documentation.
It appears that Blackbeard began his piratical career under the command
of Benjamin Hornigold. Though Hornigold's activities as a pirate
can be traced back to as early as 1714, it is not known exactly when
Thatch joined his crew. The earliest mention of Blackbeard by name is in
the Boston News-Letter in October 1717.
Thatch and Hornigold captured a French slave ship called the Concorde
off the island of St. Vincent around November 1717. Hornigold gave
Blackbeard the ship and retired from piracy soon after. Thatch
strengthened the armament of the vessel, renamed her Queen Anne's
Revenge, and for the next seven months used the ship in consort with
smaller sloops to harrass shipping throughout the Caribbean and up the
eastern seaboard of North America.
It is not currently known how many vessels Blackbeard captured during
his exploits, but a preliminary database compiled by museum researchers
currently contains over 45 prizes which can be directly attributed to
Thatch's activities.
Blackbeard was eventually tracked down to Ocracoke Inlet, North
Carolina by the Royal Navy and killed in a brief but bloody battle on
November 22, 1718.
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Sculptor
Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was commissioned to design a sculpture with the
year 1876 in mind for completion, to commemorate the centennial of the
American Declaration of Independence. The Statue was a joint effort
between America and France and it was agreed upon that the American people
were to build the pedestal, and the French people were responsible for the
Statue and its assembly here in the United States. However, lack of funds
was a problem on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. In France, public fees,
various forms of entertainment, and a lottery were among the methods used
to raise funds. In the United States, benefit theatrical events, art
exhibitions, auctions and prize fights assisted in providing needed funds.
Meanwhile in France, Bartholdi required the assistance of an engineer to
address structural issues associated with designing such as colossal
copper sculpture. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel (designer of the Eiffel Tower)
was commissioned to design the massive iron pylon and secondary skeletal
framework which allows the Statue's copper skin to move independently yet
stand upright. Back in America, fund raising for the pedestal was going
particularly slowly, so Joseph Pulitzer (noted for the Pulitzer Prize)
opened up the editorial pages of his newspaper, "The World" to
support the fund raising effort. Pulitzer used his newspaper to criticize
both the rich who had failed to finance the pedestal construction and the
middle class who were content to rely upon the wealthy to provide the
funds. Pulitzer's campaign of harsh criticism was successful in motivating
the people of America to donate.
