Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore,
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
~ Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus, 1883
Every American family has an immigration story; many trace their roots through Ellis Island. Each year, 3.5 million people visit Ellis Island to pay tribute to the 12 million immigrants who passed through.
Sadly, many miss a significant part of our immigration story. Almost 10% of immigrants arrived on our shores sick. The hospital complex on the South Side of Ellis Island remains largely unknown. But this collection of hospital buildings is where compassion met medicine. Much of our approach to modern public health care practices was first deployed here, saving and improving countless lives.
The South Side of Ellis Island is where America’s public health story began and was fiercely protected for millions who came to seek a better life. This is the “other” Ellis Island—a history that powerfully resonates today amid a world of global health issues and hundreds of millions of immigrants every year across the planet.
Save Ellis Island is dedicated to broadening the narrative to encompass the history of the first and largest immigrant hospital in the United States. As we embark on this next chapter of our journey, your support is needed more than ever to continue our work on Ellis Island’s South Side.
Your gift today will help transform these historic and revered buildings into places of learning. They will once again be open and no longer in danger of disappearing. These hallowed grounds are a part of our American history. We cannot afford to let this place disappear.
Save Ellis Island is dedicated to broadening the narrative to encompass the history of the first and largest immigrant hospital in the United States. As we embark on this next chapter of our journey, your support is needed more than ever to continue our work on Ellis Island’s South Side.
Please use this opportunity to give your most generous gift today. Simply make a gift securely online to our Annual Appeal. Your gift is fully tax deductible.
With heartfelt gratitude,
Janis DeLuce Calella
President and CEO
Save Ellis Island
