joyce
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Post by joyce on Sept 24, 2007 4:51:18 GMT -7
I was watching the History channel and a commercial came on telling about Ellis Island and how the buildings that housed and helped process our ancestors are falling apart. That there was an organization that was trying to raise funds so the buildings there can be restored.
I know that the statue of Liberty had some restoration work done to it years ago...do you think it is worth the efforts to save the buildings where our ancestors came into being?
Joyce
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jeanne
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Post by jeanne on Sept 28, 2007 16:15:02 GMT -7
Joyce,
I thought that the buildings at Ellis Island had recently been restored. Did I dream this?
I remember my parents getting a request for money for such a reason. If a donation was sent, then the name of the ancestors who came through Ellis Island would be listed somewhere (on a wall?). My parents did send a donation and when the acknowlegement came back to them, our good Polish name had been misspelled! (I guess some things never change at Ellis Island). Wasn't Ellis Island declared a National Historic Park at the time of the renovation?
Jeanne
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Post by rdywenur on Sept 28, 2007 16:59:23 GMT -7
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joyce
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Post by joyce on Oct 1, 2007 3:36:34 GMT -7
From all the websites that I have seen, it appears that the buildings of Ellis island do not look like they are falling down. Perhaps I saw an old commercial-but it is one I had never seen before. Perhaps the foundation is trying to raise more funding for their continuing efforts of keeping "history alive." I found out that a yearly membership is $45 and one gets a discount at their online gift shop. I guess if I had nothing else to do with 45 bucks, maybe I would donate. But when after the bills get paid-I am lucky enough to have the extra 45 dollars sometimes. The paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it use to...  If Ellis island is considered a National Historical Park-no wonder why it needs funding. Governmental cut backs probably has affected their funding somewhat. Jeanne-have your parents been to Ellis Island? Is there an admission fee to get into the place? I know the ferries cost money to ride and any other spending such as food, drinks, gifts would cost. When I was a little kid in school, we did a ferry tour of the statue of liberty. We didn't stop tho. At the time, I really didn't know how important the statue was. Maybe I wasn't paying attention. Joyce TX |
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jeanne
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Post by jeanne on Oct 1, 2007 15:19:12 GMT -7
From all the websites that I have seen, it appears that the buildings of Ellis island do not look like they are falling down. Perhaps I saw an old commercial-but it is one I had never seen before. Perhaps the foundation is trying to raise more funding for their continuing efforts of keeping "history alive." I found out that a yearly membership is $45 and one gets a discount at their online gift shop. I guess if I had nothing else to do with 45 bucks, maybe I would donate. But when after the bills get paid-I am lucky enough to have the extra 45 dollars sometimes. The paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it use to... If Ellis island is considered a National Historical Park-no wonder why it needs funding. Governmental cut backs probably has affected their funding somewhat. Jeanne-have your parents been to Ellis Island? Is there an admission fee to get into the place? I know the ferries cost money to ride and any other spending such as food, drinks, gifts would cost. When I was a little kid in school, we did a ferry tour of the statue of liberty. We didn't stop tho. At the time, I really didn't know how important the statue was. Maybe I wasn't paying attention. Joyce TX Joyce, No, my parents have not been to Ellis Island and neither have I. Like you, the closest I got was the Statue of Liberty. My parents made the donation to have my grandfather's name put on the wall assuming that he came through Ellis Island. Since then, I have been doing a small amount of research and cannot find him listed as coming through any of the major ports! The story was that he was smuggled out of Poland in a barrel to avoid being drafted into the Russian army. I'm beginning to think that he may have been loaded on a ship still in the barrel, thence no record of him! (I'm kidding, of course!) I was discussing him recently with my elderly aunt (his daughter) and she said both her parents never wanted to discuss those matters with her when she was growing up. I guess once they got here they never looked back, so even his own children were in the dark as to how he arrived in the US and where he came from in Poland. It's frustrating. Jeanne |
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joyce
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Post by joyce on Oct 3, 2007 2:31:45 GMT -7
and she said both her parents never wanted to discuss those matters with her when she was growing up. I guess once they got here they never looked back, so even his own children were in the dark as to how he arrived in the US and where he came from in Poland. It's frustrating.
Yeah I agree-it's frustrating. I remember hearing that from my grandmother who grew up in the states. I'd wanted to know about her childhood and she told me that she didn't want to talk about what she went thru. But I think it is important for the generations to know what strifes our grandparents went thru. It is not a matter of saying how rough your life was....for I think we all go thru certain periods of rough times. I remember when we couldn't buy our son any Christmas presents. We were grateful we had a roof over our head and food on the table.
It's real humbling... the old folks need to share their experiences, so we can learn from them.
Joyce TX
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jeanne
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Post by jeanne on Oct 3, 2007 2:55:57 GMT -7
and she said both her parents never wanted to discuss those matters with her when she was growing up. I guess once they got here they never looked back, so even his own children were in the dark as to how he arrived in the US and where he came from in Poland. It's frustrating. Yeah I agree-it's frustrating. I remember hearing that from my grandmother who grew up in the states. I'd wanted to know about her childhood and she told me that she didn't want to talk about what she went thru. But I think it is important for the generations to know what strifes our grandparents went thru. It is not a matter of saying how rough your life was....for I think we all go thru certain periods of rough times. I remember when we couldn't buy our son any Christmas presents. We were grateful we had a roof over our head and food on the table. It's real humbling... the old folks need to share their experiences, so we can learn from them. Joyce TX Joyce, I agree. I would like to hear about their lives, but if they didn't want to share those painful experiences, learning where they came from would at least satisfy me somewhat. I'll keep researching; there have to be records somewhere. Jeanne |
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Post by rdywenur on Oct 5, 2007 7:51:35 GMT -7
Inside this album is a couple of great photos of Ellis Island and museum (along with some great shots of the "City").  (click on photo, pg 2) |
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