D2.His.9.6-8: Classifying the Sources Behind a History of Ellis Island

Overview

Lesson Procedure

60-70 minutes of class time across 5 phases.

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes
2. Direct Instruction20 minutes
3. Guided Practice15 minutes
4. Independent Practice15 minutes
5. Closure5-10 minutes

1. Warm-Up5-10 minutes

   Warm-Up Prompt

   "Someone is writing the history of your family. They have your birth certificate, a photo of a grandparent at age ten, a video interview your aunt recorded last year, and a library book about your town. Sort these four things: which ones were made by the people in the story, and which one was made by an outsider studying the past?"

   Take a few answers. Most students put the book in its own pile. Name the piles: the birth certificate, photo and interview are primary sources (made by people who took part in or saw the events), and the town history is a secondary source (made later by someone who studied other sources). Push on the interview: it was recorded last year, long after your aunt's childhood, so is it secondary? No: it is your aunt's own memory, so it stays primary, but it was made later. Tell students that today they will take a history of Ellis Island apart the same way, to see what it is built from.

2. Direct Instruction20 minutes

   Define a secondary interpretation: an explanation of the past written later by someone who studied sources. Textbook chapters, history books, documentaries and museum or park web pages are all secondary interpretations. To classify a source is to sort it into a group by what it is. Hand out the Source Kit below. It is an SVHS teaching tool, not an official list; historians sort sources in several ways, and one source can belong to two kinds.

   The Source Kit (an SVHS teaching tool): three questions and six kinds of primary sources

   Question or kind	What to ask or look for	Ellis Island examples
   Question 1: Primary or secondary?	Was it made by people who took part in or saw the events (primary), or later by someone who studied them (secondary)?	A 1906 eyewitness book is primary; a 2015 park web page about the station is secondary
   Question 2: What kind?	Sort a primary source into one of the six kinds below	See the six rows below
   Question 3: When was it made?	At the time of the events, or later? How much later?	A photo from about 1906 is from the time; an interview recorded in the 1980s is later
   Kind 1: Written accounts	Letters, diaries, memoirs and books by people who were there	A book by a writer who crossed with immigrants
   Kind 2: Official records	Laws, government reports, lists and forms made by officials	A law passed by Congress; a ship's passenger list
   Kind 3: Numbers	Counts, tables and statistics	How many immigrants arrived in a year
   Kind 4: Images	Photographs, drawings, maps	A photograph of the great hall
   Kind 5: Objects and places	Things people made or used: tools, clothing, tickets, buildings	A trunk a family carried; the station building
   Kind 6: Oral histories	Recorded interviews in which people tell what they remember	An interview with a woman who arrived as a child

   Read Source 1 aloud. It is an SVHS-written sample interpretation, built the way real historians write: each sentence that gives a fact ends with a number, and the notes at the end (paragraph 4) say where the fact came from. Model the Source Kit on two notes and two facts (the worked examples below), thinking aloud. Then point out a trap: the place a source is kept does not decide its kind. A passenger list in the National Archives is still a record made in the 1900s, and a modern web page is still secondary even when a government agency wrote it.

   1In the early 1900s, a trip to America did not end when a ship reached New York. Passengers who traveled in third class or "steerage" (the section of a ship with the cheapest tickets) were taken to Ellis Island. First- and second-class passengers were inspected on board their ships instead (1). By 1905 the island had a large Main Immigration Building. It opened in December 1900, after a fire in 1897 destroyed the first wooden buildings (2).

   2Inspection moved fast. Edward Steiner, a writer who made the crossing in steerage with immigrants, described tickets "fastened to our caps" and a quick check "for the dreaded trachoma, an eye disease" (3). People then showed their money and answered the inspectors' questions (3). Some newcomers were kept for illness. The island's hospital opened in March 1902 with space for 125 patients, and it was soon overwhelmed by people diagnosed with trachoma and other contagious illnesses (2).

   3Records of these arrivals still exist. Ship passenger lists, called manifests, are kept by the National Archives (4). The park's museum holds inspection cards, passports, steamship tickets and personal items that families carried (5). The Park Service also shares a photograph of the Registry Room in the Main Immigration Building, taken about 1906 (6). Since 1973, the Ellis Island Oral History Program has recorded about 2,000 interviews with immigrants and employees, who looked back on Ellis Island years later (7).

   4Source notes:
   (1) National Park Service, "Frequently Asked Questions," Ellis Island web page (last updated 2026).
   (2) National Park Service, "Immigration," Ellis Island history web page (last updated 2015).
   (3) Edward A. Steiner, On the Trail of the Immigrant (1906), a book by a writer who traveled with immigrants.
   (4) Ship passenger lists (manifests) for arrivals at the Port of New York, kept by the National Archives.
   (5) Inspection cards, passports, steamship tickets and personal items in the Ellis Island museum collection.
   (6) Photograph, "The Registry Room in the Main Immigration Building c. 1906," NPS Photo.
   (7) Recorded interviews from the Ellis Island Oral History Program, 1973 to today.

   1In 1891, the federal government assumed responsibility from the states for regulating immigration through the Immigration Act of 1891, which established the Office of Immigration (later the Bureau of Immigration) to administer immigration affairs. The government also appropriated money to build a new immigrant inspection station on Ellis Island. The Immigration Act assigned the Marine Hospital Service (later the Public Health Service) the responsibility of examining the health of immigrants entering the United States.

   2Before construction of Ellis Island's first immigration depot began, the island was doubled in size with landfill. A ferry slip was dredged and a dock installed next to the main building site. A number of older buildings from the island's time as a military post were adapted for re-use. Ellis Island's first immigration building, constructed of Georgia pine, opened on January 1, 1892.

   [...]

   3Due to the economic depression at the time, immigration was light and Ellis Island inspectors had no difficulty in processing the fewer than 20,000 immigrants who arrived annually. On June 15, 1897 a fire destroyed the complex of wooden buildings. Although 140 immigrants and numerous employees were on the island, no one was killed.

   4The government announced almost immediately that Ellis Island would be rebuilt with fireproof buildings. The New York architectural firm of Boring and Tilton was awarded the contract after a competition entered by five outstanding firms, including McKim, Mead & White.

   [...]

   5The first building to be built was the new Main Immigration Building, which opened on December 17, 1900. Following its completion, the Kitchen and Laundry and Powerhouse buildings were erected in 1901 and the island was enlarged by landfill to make room for a hospital complex. In March of 1902, the Main Hospital Building opened. The hospital had the space and equipment to care for 125 patients but it was still not enough--the hospital was overwhelmed with patients diagnosed with trachoma, favus, and other contagious illnesses that warranted exclusion. [...]

   • Classifying a note: Source 1, note (3)

     Note (3) is Edward A. Steiner's book On the Trail of the Immigrant (1906). Source 1 uses it for the tickets "fastened to our caps" and the check for trachoma.

     Result: Question 1: primary, because Steiner was there: he "made the crossing in steerage with immigrants" (paragraph 2). Question 2: a written account (a book by someone who saw the events). Question 3: made at the time, in 1906, while the Main Immigration Building was in use.

   • Classifying a note: Source 1, note (2)

     Note (2) is the National Park Service page "Immigration," last updated in 2015. Source 1 cites it in paragraphs 1 and 2.

     Result: Question 1: secondary. The page was written long after the events (it was last updated in 2015) by people who studied the station's history; it is Source 2 on this page. A secondary interpretation can stand on other secondary interpretations, and good notes say so. Questions 2 and 3: a history web page, made long after the events.

   • Inferring a source: Source 2, paragraph 3

     Source 2 names no sources. It says inspectors processed "fewer than 20,000 immigrants who arrived annually." What kind of source most likely gave the writer this fact?

     Result: Numbers (Kind 3): a yearly count of arrivals, of the kind officials kept at the station. No eyewitness could count a whole year of arrivals by watching, so a written account or a photograph could not supply this fact.

   • Inferring a source: Source 2, paragraph 1

     Source 2 says the federal government took over immigration "through the Immigration Act of 1891." What kind of source stands behind this sentence?

     Result: An official record (Kind 2): a law passed by Congress. The writer could read the law itself, which is a primary source made at the time; the sentence turns that record into part of an explanation.

3. Guided Practice15 minutes

   Pairs use the Source Kit on two more notes of Source 1 and one more fact from Source 2, writing all three answers before you share the key.

   1. Source 1, note (4): ship passenger lists (manifests), kept by the National Archives.
   2. Source 1, note (6): the photograph of the Registry Room, about 1906.
   3. Source 2, paragraph 2: the first building was "constructed of Georgia pine." Could the writer have studied the building itself?

   Key. (1) Primary; an official record (a list made for officials when each ship arrived); made at the time. Where it is kept today, the National Archives, does not make it secondary. (2) Primary; an image; made at the time, about 1906. (3) No: Source 2, paragraph 3 says a fire "destroyed the complex of wooden buildings" in 1897, so the building no longer exists. The writer most likely used official records, such as building plans or reports, or images made before the fire. This is why classifying matters: the kind of source tells you what the writer could and could not have seen.

   Ask each pair to say which of Source 1's seven notes they find hardest to classify, and why. Remind them that one source can fit two kinds, and that any kind with a good reason earns credit. Then run Activity 1.

4. Independent Practice15 minutes

   Students read Sources 3 and 4 on their own and answer in writing: (a) copy two phrases from Source 3 that show Steiner was there himself; (b) list two things a secondary interpretation could take from Source 3 and one thing it could not; (c) write one sentence a secondary interpretation could build on an item named in Source 4, with a numbered note. Quiz Questions 10-14 and 18 use these two sources.

   1With tickets fastened to our caps and to the dresses of the women, and with our own bills of lading in our trembling hands, we pass between rows of uniformed attendants, and under the huge portal of the vast hall where the final judgment awaits us. We are cheered somewhat by the fact that assistance is promised to most of us by the agents of various National Immigrant Societies who seem both watchful and efficient.

   2Mechanically and with quick movements we are examined for general physical defects and for the dreaded trachoma, an eye disease, the prevalence of which is greater in the imagination of some statisticians than it is on board immigrant vessels.

   3From here we pass into passageways made by iron railings, in which only lately, through the intervention of a humane official, benches have been placed, upon which, closely crowded, we await our passing before the inspectors.

   [...]

   4One by one we pass the inspectors; we show our money and answer the questions which are numerous and pertinent.

   [...]

   5The examination can be superficial at best; but the eye has been trained and discoveries are made here, which seem rather remarkable.

   6Four ways open to the immigrant after he passes the inspector. If he is destined for New York he goes straightway down the stairs, and there his friends await him if he has any; and most of them have. If his journey takes him westward, and there the largest percentage goes, he enters a large, commodious hall to the right, where the money-changers sit and the transportation companies have their offices. If he goes to the New England states he turns to the left into a room which can scarcely hold those who go to the land of the pilgrims and puritans. The fourth way is the hardest one and is taken by those who have received a ticket marked P. C. (Public Charge), which sends the immigrant to the extreme left where an official sits, in front of a barred gate behind which is the dreaded detention-room.

   1The museum collection of the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island includes approximately 390,000 individual artifacts and over 1 million archival records, which represent the cultural and natural histories of both Liberty and Ellis Islands. The collection consists primarily of site-related materials that the National Park Service is legally mandated to collect and preserve and contributes to the Park's interpretive themes. These materials are used to educate and inspire present and future generations about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island through exhibits, research, interpretive programs, publications, and the media.

   2Significant items in the museum collection include 1886 models of the Statue of Liberty sold to raise funds for the Statue's construction; a number of letters exchanged between Auguste Bartholdi (designer of the Statue of Liberty) and Joseph Pulitzer (publisher of the New York World newspaper); immigration documents such as inspection cards, passports and steamship tickets; and personal items families brought with them through Ellis Island.

5. Closure5-10 minutes

   Exit ticket: "A history of Ellis Island says: 'In 1907, a family from Naples carried one wooden trunk.' Name the kind of source that could support this sentence, and say whether it is primary or secondary." (Accept an object, the trunk itself in a museum, or an oral history or written account by the family, with a reason.) Then introduce Source 5, which the homework uses.

   Teacher notes. (1) Source 1 is an SVHS-written sample, not a published history; every fact in it comes from Sources 2-5 or from the National Park Service and National Archives pages its notes name. (2) Source 1 uses the period word "steerage" and Source 3 the phrase "Public Charge" (a person officials expected to need public support); define both as they come up. The excerpt leaves out Steiner's paragraphs on families separated by the medical checks; if students ask, say that some families were separated when a member was held for illness, and keep the discussion on the sources. (3) Keep the lesson on how histories are built. If a student raises present-day immigration debates, note that the lesson does not take a position on them and return to the sources.

   1Did my ancestors go through Ellis Island? Third class and "steerage" immigrants, coming through the Port of New York, were the largest group processed at Ellis Island. First and second-class immigrant travelers were processed on-board steamships entering New York Harbor due to their higher financial status and lower risk of carrying dangerous diseases or having other severe health issues. Also, there were other ports of entry around the United States, so your ancestors may have been processed elsewhere, such as Boston, Baltimore, New Orleans, or Chicago, just to name a few other places.

   2Can I find out if my relatives went through Ellis Island? Yes, the more information you know, the easier this search can be. The National Archives and Records Administration is the official repository for the nation's manifest documents. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Foundation opened the American Family Immigration History Center at Ellis Island in 2001 which contains a searchable database of passenger manifests for Ellis Island and the Port of New York between 1892 and 1924. The center's database is also online.

Differentiation Strategies

Assessment Guidance

1. Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which of these is a secondary interpretation of Ellis Island's history?

   AA ship's list of passengers who arrived in 1905 BA history magazine article on Ellis Island written in 2005 CA diary that a young immigrant kept during her voyage in 1907 DA photograph of families on the ferry in 1910

2. Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   A student is studying how inspections worked at Ellis Island in 1905. Which of these is a primary source?

   AA textbook chapter on immigration published in 2021 BA 2015 park web page on the island's history CA ferry ticket stub that a passenger kept in 1905 DAn encyclopedia entry on the station written in 2012

3. Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Source 1, how should note (1), the National Park Service "Frequently Asked Questions" page, be classified?

   AA secondary source, made recently by people studying the past BA primary official record, because a government agency wrote it CA primary written account by an immigrant who passed through DAn oral history, because it answers questions people asked

4. Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   In Source 1, note (5) lists "inspection cards, passports, steamship tickets and personal items." Which classification fits note (5) best?

   AA secondary interpretation of the museum BOral histories recorded by the museum CNumbers that describe the collection DObjects, some also official forms

5. Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 1, note (7), is the interviews of the Ellis Island Oral History Program, recorded since 1973. Which statement is correct?

   AThey are secondary, because they were recorded after 1954 BThey are primary oral histories, made later than the events CThey are official records, because the government recorded them DThey are numbers, because the program has about 2,000 interviews

6. Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   How many of the seven sources in Source 1's notes are primary sources?

   ATwo BThree CFive DSeven

7. Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Which fact in Source 1 rests on a secondary source?

   ANewcomers wore tickets that were fastened to their caps BThe hospital opened in 1902 with space for 125 CPeople showed money and answered questions DThe Registry Room as it looked in about 1906

8. Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 2, paragraph 4, says the firm Boring and Tilton "was awarded the contract after a competition entered by five outstanding firms." What kind of source most likely supplied this fact?

   AOfficial records, such as contract papers BAn oral history recorded with a visitor to the island CA photograph of the new buildings after they opened DObjects found on the island during later repairs

9. Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice

   Source 2 does not list any of its sources. Which conclusion is best?

   AIt is a primary source, since it gives no notes BIts facts cannot be trusted, since it has no notes CIt was written by people who saw the events DIt used sources, so readers must infer the kinds

10. Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Source 3, paragraph 4, says, "we show our money and answer the questions." Which kind of source could best tell a historian what those questions were?

    ANumbers, such as a count of how many people arrived that day BOfficial records, such as the forms the inspectors used CImages, such as a photograph of the great hall from above DObjects, such as a trunk that one of the families carried

11. Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    According to Source 3, paragraph 6, what happened to an immigrant who received a ticket marked "P. C."?

    AHe went straight down the stairs to meet his friends BHe went to a large hall to buy a railroad ticket west CHe was sent toward the detention room behind a gate DHe turned left into a room for travelers to New England

12. Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Which piece of information could a secondary interpretation NOT take from Source 3?

    AHow the inspection felt to a person in the line BThat benches had been placed in the passageways CThe four ways out of the hall after inspection DHow many people were inspected in a given year

13. Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    Source 4, paragraph 1, says the collection is used "through exhibits, research, interpretive programs, publications, and the media." What does this show about the collection and secondary interpretations?

    AThe collection is itself a secondary interpretation of the island BIts primary sources become material for later histories CExhibits and publications are primary sources DOnly the media may use primary sources

14. Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A writer says, "Most of the primary sources the park keeps are objects." Does Source 4, paragraph 1, support this claim?

    AYes: it counts 390,000 artifacts, a very large number BYes: the law requires the park to collect only objects CNo: it has over 1 million records, more than its artifacts DNo: the collection is made up only of oral histories

15. Question 15 of 20 · Multiple Choice

    A history book published in 2018 quotes a letter written in 1907 and reprints a photograph taken in 1907. How should the three be classified?

    AAll three are primary sources, since all three are about the year 1907 BAll three are secondary, since the book printed them all CThe letter and book are primary; the photograph is secondary DThe book is secondary; the letter and the photograph are primary

16. Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer

    Source 2, paragraph 5, says the hospital "had the space and equipment to care for 125 patients." Name the kind of source the writer most likely used for this fact, and give one clue from the sentence.

    Show model answer

17. Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer

    Classify each of these three sources with all three Source Kit questions: (a) a menu from a steamship's third-class dining room in 1911; (b) a newspaper article written in 1950 that looks back on Ellis Island in 1905; (c) a recording made in 1996 of a woman who worked as a nurse in the island's hospital.

    Show model answer

18. Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer

    Source 3, paragraph 6, says that "there the largest percentage goes" when describing people bound west. What kind of source would let a historian check this claim, and why can Steiner's account not settle it by itself?

    Show model answer

19. Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer

    Source 1, paragraph 2, quotes Steiner. A student says, "Source 1 quotes a primary source, so Source 1 is a primary source." Explain the error.

    Show model answer

20. Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer

    Which kind of source from the Source Kit does Source 1 not use in any of its notes? Write one question about Ellis Island that this kind of source could help answer.

    Show model answer

These standards connect to D2.His.9.6-8: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.

Standard text: National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), The College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards: Guidance for Enhancing the Rigor of K-12 Civics, Economics, Geography, and History (Silver Spring, MD: NCSS, 2013). NCSS was not involved in the production of this lesson and does not endorse it.