Erstellt am: 27. 10. 2015 - 11:28 Uhr

Today's Webtip: Immigration

A hobby photographer took portraits of the people passing though Ellis Island in 1907.

My get grandfather was an immigrant. He left Ireland at the end of the 19th century to try to find something better in the USA. As part of that process, and having belonged to the poorer classes, he went through a processing centre in New York. Ellis Island.

A process shared by hundreds of thousands of Europeans who left their homes looking for something else. Religious freedom, political freedom, or maybe just a better life.

1907 was a particularly busy year. In April over 11,000 people went through the medical and legal examinations needed to enter the U.S. It was also the year that a collection of photographs were published in National Gographic. Photographs taken by hobby photographer and Chief Registry Clerk Augustus Sherman.

Augustus Sherman (public domain)

The result is a fascinating collection of photos documenting the faces and fashions of parts of Europe and the rest of the world.

You can read more about the whole thing, and see many more photos at publicdomainreview.org.

That site is worth spending a bit of time at. It's filled with all sorts of interesting information.