Megan Smolenyak

I Just Wanted to Figure out Who They Were, but Found Myself Ensnared in a Victorian Melodrama No names were given, but the caption grabbed my attention: “English singing girls — imported by Italian padrone — ret’d by Britannic, Nov 19 1890.” As part…

Annie Moore and Arne Pettersen were Ellis Island’s bookends. An Irish teenager, Annie was the first to arrive when the immigration processing center opened its doors on January 1, 1892. 62 years later on November 12, 1954, Norwegian seaman Arne would…

The immigration debate is permeated by a forgetful nostalgia that frequently bubbles up the declaration, “But my ancestors came here legally!” Others have explained that this ignores how incredibly easy this was to do until the 1920s, so I’d like to…

This Picture Is Worth Far More than a Thousand Words The fact that this image exists is remarkable enough, but the story that spilled out of it is even more so. Included in a scrapbook of immigrant photos taken between 1890 and 1892 by E.W. Austin…

I should have known. Of course his grandfather was an immigrant. After all, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) is the sponsor of Securing America’s Future Act, a bill which would drastically cut legal immigration, do little to protect DREAMers, cost a…

A Special Photo Finds It Way Home 130+ Years Later Bessie Lillicrap must have been exhausted when she arrived in New York with her children. The family had left Liverpool on October 7, 1890 and finally disembarked on the 18th. That’s a long time to…

The Little Fellow Crossed the Atlantic Alone Percy Hemingway was a little boy with a big tag and minimal luggage when he made the journey from England to America by himself at the advanced age of eight. Fellow passengers on the S.S.Teutonic said he…

Luisa would have preferred to never leave home. Her husband had gone to the U.S. about a dozen yearsearlier, and she and their children had managed to live on the remittances he sent back, but things were tougher since their only son had joined her…

I remember seeing Aerosmith in concert back in my high school days, and it gives me comfort that Steven Tyler keeps on keeping on. As a rock star, grandfather, and quiet do-gooder who — along with more serious philanthropy — does things like treat…

Life during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has taken on a soap opera quality with every day bringing gasp-inducing twists and turns, chaos mixed with boredom, horrors and heroes. Among the notables who have taken center stage are the Cuomo…

“It’s good to remember that we are a nation of immigrants, of hopeful wanderers. And we cannot know who is coming across our borders today whose story will add a significant page to the American story, who will work hard, who will raise a family,…

“It’s good to remember that we are a nation of immigrants, of hopeful wanderers. And we cannot know who is coming across our borders today whose story will add a significant page to the American story, who will work hard, who will raise a family,…

ELLIS ISLAND MUSEUM TO CELEBRATE 20TH YEAR New York, NY (September 9, 2010) – This week marks the 20th anniversary of the historic restoration of Ellis Island and the opening of its Immigration Museum on September 10, 1990, which was funded by the…

Annie Moore and Arne Pareli Pettersen, first and last through Ellis Island, seen together for the first time Annie Moore and Arne Pettersen were Ellis Island’s bookends. An Irish teenager, Annie was the first to arrive when the immigration processing…