Immigrant Photos - Megan Smolenyak

1890-1892 IMMIGRANT PHOTOS

Many are fascinated by old photos of immigrants arriving on American shores, especially those taken at Ellis Island by Augustus Sherman (roughly 1904 to 1924) and Lewis Hine (1905-1909 and 1926). So curious are we about those who made the bold decision to uproot their lives and the moment of arrival that changes the trajectory of a family for generations that it’s not unusual to see clusters of them go viral from time to time.

This collection is similar to the Sherman and Hine ones, but even earlier, dating to 1890-1892 with the majority taken during the last quarter of 1890. Ellis Island opened on January 1, 1892, so most were situated at the Barge Office, temporarily used for processing immigrants while Ellis Island was being constructed. Included in these now 130+ year-old “snapshots” are Swiss, Syrian, Italian, Belgian, Indian, Dutch, Slovak, Algerian, Swedish, Russian, English, and other immigrants.

These photos were captured by E.W. Austin, who held the money exchange concession, and gifted in an album to John B. Weber, the Commissioner of Immigration who oversaw the opening of Ellis Island. This album was professionally photographed at NPS’s Ellis Island library and can be viewed there by making an appointment.

E.W. Austin in a news clipping and a probable self-portrait at the money-changing station at the Barge Office

Identification of the photographer was possible thanks to the October 24, 1891 issue of Harper’s Weekly which featured sketches by Thure de Thulstrup described as being based on photos taken by E.W. Austin. Some of these sketches are seen here with their corresponding photographs.

E.W. Austin was ahead of his time, not only in capturing and (in most cases) identifying these photographs, but in using a stereopticon to project them to accompany talks he gave on immigration. Imagine watching a PowerPoint presentation, but in the 1890s.

He was also of his time, believing that immigration should be restricted, but not forbidden – and it’s not hard to tell who he felt should be excluded. Austin opined, for instance, that Italians bring “the most vices and the least cash,” and that perspective is reflected in the pictures he took of them.

Though his biases are wince-inducing and objectionable, it’s still fortunate that he was foresighted enough to take these remarkable photos, and given that Augustus Sherman began working at Ellis Island in 1892, it’s possible that the spark for his own later photographs came from Austin.

Colorization of old photos remains controversial, but I’ve seen how it has the effect of allowing us to better relate to those portrayed, so I’ve opted to use a slider (thanks, Terry!) so that both the original and colorized/enhanced versions can be seen. This was done primarily with the use of MyHeritage (the source of the watermarks seen in the lower left of many photos) with an occasional assist from PhotoShop.

Captions are verbatim from Austin’s descriptions except for a few where I’ve included an identification from the Harper’s Weekly article (noted as such) or added a personal observation (indicated with MS). Please also note that a few of the images have a link to articles with more information about the person or people shown.