The Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital (also known as USPHS Hospital No. 43) was a

United States Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant S ...

hospital on

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mi ...

, in

New York Harbor New York Harbor is at the mouth of the Hudson River where it empties into New York Bay near the East River tidal estuary, and then into the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of the United States. It is one of the largest natural harbors in t ...

, that operated from 1902 to 1951. The hospital is part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. While the monument is managed by the

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...

as part of the

National Parks of New York Harbor National Parks of New York Harbor is the name of an office of the National Park Service that coordinates administration of eleven NPS sites that include 23 unique destinations located in the New York metropolitan area. National Parks of New York ...

office, the south side of Ellis Island, including the hospital, is managed by the non-profit

Save Ellis Island Save Ellis Island, founded in 1999, is a 501(c)(3) organizationStatistics compiled from annual reports to The Commissioner General of Immigration and The Surgeon General of United States Public Health Service from 1892 to 1954
See chart
/ref> The immigrant hospital was run by the

Marine Hospital Service The Marine Hospital Service was an organization of Marine Hospitals dedicated to the care of ill and disabled seamen in the United States Merchant Marine, the U.S. Coast Guard and other federal beneficiaries. The Marine Hospital Service evolved ...

, which was re-organized and expanded in 1902 and became the Public Health and Marine Hospital Service. The name was shortened in 1912 and became the

(PHS). All of the doctors at Ellis Island were part of the commissioned corps of the United States Public Health Service. Nurses and all other medical personnel were employees of the PHS. The PHS doctors conducted the line inspection, the medical examination of arriving immigrants, and treated detained immigrants in the hospitals. Efforts to restore the hospital buildings and other structures on the island are being made by the Save Ellis Island Foundation. The hospital complex has been open to the public on a limited basis for hard hat tours since 2014, provided by the Save Ellis Island Foundation.

History

Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital building

Need

Prior to being an immigration station,

was the site of Fort Gibson, an 18th-century fort which was part of the New York Harbor defenses along with the Battery, Fort Wood on

Bedloe's Island Liberty Island is a federally owned island in Upper New York Bay in the United States. Its most notable feature is the Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''), a large statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi that was dedicated in ...

, and

Fort Jay Fort Jay is a coastal bastion fort and the name of a former United States Army post on Governors Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. Fort Jay is the oldest existing defensive structure on the island, and was named for John Jay, a me ...

Governors Island Governors Island is a island in New York Harbor, within the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is located approximately south of Manhattan Island, and is separated from Brooklyn to the east by the Buttermilk Channel. The National Park ...

. By the late 19th century, Fort Gibson was obsolete and the island was used by the Navy to store munitions. The need for hospitals as part of the immigration process was well-established when the new Ellis Island Immigration Station opened. In the 1860s (when immigration was administered by the states), New York State sent sick immigrants from the main entrance facility at

Castle Clinton Castle Clinton (also known as Fort Clinton and Castle Garden) is a circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City. Built from 1808 to 1811, it was the first American immigration station, predating ...

in the Battery to a separate purpose-built and very effective new hospital facility.

Ward's Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Islands, in New York County, New York City,

Emigrant Hospital, which opened in 1864 was constructed in the pavilion style, a hygienic layout promoted by Florence Nightingale in her ''Notes On Hospitals'' and hailed by ''

the New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as the exemplar of a modern hospital. As the number of immigrants increased, it was decided that the US government had to take control of immigration. In 1882 the US government passed the

Immigration Act of 1882 The Immigration Act of 1882 was a United States federal law signed by President Chester A. Arthur on August 3, 1882. It imposed a head tax on non-citizens of the United States who came to American ports and restricted certain classes of people f ...

. It excluded any immigrant who was "likely to become a public charge" (LPC), effectively denying entrance to prospective immigrants who could not demonstrate their ability to work and would require government assistance to survive. The law also barred immigrants who were convicts, those convicted of political offenses or who were "idiots, psychopathics, or afflicted with a loathsome infectious or contagious disease". It also established a head tax to be paid to the federal government, which replaced one charged by New York State, which was declared unconstitutional in 1875 as per ''Henderson v. Mayor of City of New York'', 92 U.S. 259. The local administration, however, was to be carried out by state officers designated by the various states involved. The

Immigration Act of 1891 The Immigration Act of 1891, also known as the 1891 Immigration Act, was a modification of the Immigration Act of 1882, focusing on immigration rules and enforcement mechanisms for foreigners arriving from countries other than China. It was the se ...

formalized previous immigration laws and gave full authority to the US government, including the ability to enforce the laws and to deport immigrants who did note meet the requirements. The

, later renamed the US Public Health Service, was charged with administering the new immigration laws for the federal government.

First immigration station

The original immigration station on Ellis Island opened January 1, 1892. It was built reusing several of the structures from Fort Gibson. A shellhouse was converted into a hospital for the insane, the gunners quarters became the surgeon's house, a shellhouse became a dining hall and another shellhouse became a detention facility for immigrants awaiting deportation. A 40-bed hospital was constructed from "a series of wooden structures surrounding a garden". In 1890 when the US government and the State of New York processed immigrants jointly at the Barge Office (a US government-owned facility), patients with contagious diseases were sent to hospitals operated by the New York City Department of Health and to Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, which was then also called the Immigrant Hospital. The hospitals involved were called “Contract Hospitals.”

Reconstruction and expansion

New hospital on Island 2

On June 15, 1897, the wooden immigration station on Ellis Island was destroyed by fire. The ''Buffalo Evening News'' reported that all 40 patients were safely evacuated and taken to

Bellevue Hospital Bellevue Hospital (officially NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue and formerly known as Bellevue Hospital Center) is a hospital in New York City and the oldest public hospital in the United States. One of the largest hospitals in the United States b ...

. By September, the treasury's

supervising architect The Office of the Supervising Architect was an agency of the United States Treasury Department that designed federal government buildings from 1852 to 1939. The office handled some of the most important architectural commissions of the nineteenth ...

James Knox Taylor James Knox Taylor (October 11, 1857 – August 27, 1929) was Supervising Architect of the United States Department of the Treasury from 1897 to 1912. His name is listed '' ex officio'' as supervising architect of hundreds of federal buildings ...

, opened an architecture competition to rebuild the immigration station. The competition was the second to be conducted under the

Tarsney Act John Charles Tarsney (November 7, 1845 – September 4, 1920) was an American politician from Missouri and an associate justice of the Oklahoma Territory Supreme Court (1896-1899). He then returned to Kansas City, Missouri, where he had a private ...

of 1893, which had permitted private architects to design federal buildings, rather than government architects in the supervising architect's office. By December, it was announced that

Edward Lippincott Tilton Edward Lippincott Tilton (19 October 1861 – 5 January 1933) was an American architect, with a practice in New York City, where he was born. He specialized in the design of libraries, completing about one hundred in the U.S. and Canada, inc ...

and

William A. Boring William Alciphron Boring (September 9, 1859 – May 5, 1937) was an American architect noted for co-designing the Immigration Station at Ellis Island in New York harbor. Career Boring studied first at the University of Illinois, then spen ...

had won the competition. Tilton and Boring's plan called for four new structures: a main immigration processing facility in the

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...

style, as well as the kitchen and laundry building, main powerhouse, and the main hospital building The plan also included the creation of a new island (Island 2), upon which the hospital would be built, south of the existing island (Island 1). The Main Immigration Building and structures on Island 1 were completed and opened in December 1900. Work creating Island 2 was completed in 1898. Work then started on the hospital and other buildings. The new hospital (Hospital Building No. 1) was built between February 1900 and March 1901 and included an outbuilding and a surgeon's house. "The hospital outbuilding included a laundry, linen room, and autopsy room. The surgeon’s house was designed and constructed with a basement; a parlor, kitchen, pantry, dining room, library, and hall on the first floor; and five bedrooms, hall, and bath on the second floor." Work on these buildings was completed at the end of 1901, but they did not open until 1902 because of delays during construction. The immigrant hospital was initially staffed by the

, which became the

U.S. Public Health Service The United States Public Health Service (USPHS or PHS) is a collection of agencies of the Department of Health and Human Services concerned with public health, containing nine out of the department's twelve operating divisions. The Assistant ...

PHS). It was one of the first facilities in the country to employ a full-time female physician, Rose A. Bebb. Physicians treated a wide range of disease, from

measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

trachoma Trachoma is an infectious disease caused by bacterium ''Chlamydia trachomatis''. The infection causes a roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. This roughening can lead to pain in the eyes, breakdown of the outer surface or cornea of ...

scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as Scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'' a Group A streptococcus (GAS). The infection is a type of Group A streptococcal infection (Group A strep). It most commonly affects childr ...

Favus Favus (Latin for "honeycomb") or tinea favosa is the severe form of tinea capitis, a skin infectious disease caused by the dermatophyte fungus ''Trichophyton schoenleinii.'' Typically the species affects the scalp, but occasionally occurs as onyc ...

, and

diphtheria Diphtheria is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Corynebacterium diphtheriae''. Most infections are asymptomatic or have a mild clinical course, but in some outbreaks more than 10% of those diagnosed with the disease may die. Signs and s ...

, to tropical diseases imported from around the world. The hospital was an extremely effective institution. Its mortality rate was on par or better than most comparable hospitals. In 1917, Wilson, a PHS physician stationed at Ellis Island, conducted a study of the hospitals. He wrote that "Although the incidence of cross-infection contracted in hospital has not entirely ceased, it has reached such a low point (for the past year 0.63 percent of all admissions) that it is believed a description of the hospital, with special reference to the provisions to prevent the spread of disease, will be found interesting and instructive." The PHS used advanced methods in medicine as they developed. They used fluoroscopy and x-rays; there was an

autoclave An autoclave is a machine used to carry out industrial and scientific processes requiring elevated temperature and pressure in relation to ambient pressure and/or temperature. Autoclaves are used before surgical procedures to perform sterilizat ...

that could sterilize four mattresses at a time. For many immigrants, new medical equipment was unfamiliar and scary. According to one ''New York Times'' article, "those less fortunate had to submit to physical inspections that required stripping off all of one’s clothing – an entirely foreign concept, particularly to many immigrant women. This is why there were female physicians stationed on the medical inspection line. Some immigrants had no idea what X-ray machines did; others were fearful that their clothing – or the money sewn inside its seams – would be stolen." The volume of immigrants quickly overwhelmed Hospital 1's capacity of 125 beds. As the number of immigrants increased, the number of "psychopathic" or "insane" patients grew as well. Because their entry in the US was prohibited by immigration law and because these patients needed to be housed in a separate facility, a new secure ward was required. The psychopathic ward, situated between the hospital outbuilding and the main hospital on Island 2, opened in 1907. The administration building was added in 1906–1907, which added another 125 beds. However, the number of immigrants nearly doubled (from 493,267 in 1902 to 1,004,756 in 1907), leaving the hospitals still extremely overcrowded. Between 1908 and 1909, a third building was constructed that has several names, originally called the hospital extension it was renamed Hospital Number 2 because it was almost the same size and layout as the first hospital. It had a capacity of 125 beds. When it opened it enabled the PHS to distribute patients to hospitals 1 and 2 and use the administration building for its original purpose. When Hospital 2 was completed, the facility had a capacity of 300 beds.

Contagious disease hospital on Island 3

Hospital No. 1 was designed as a general hospital. The PHS intended there to be a companion, separate contagious hospital, as was the practice in the civilian hospitals, such as Johns Hopkins Hospital, after which Ellis Island's hospitals were modeled, but the government would not fund a contagious hospital. With no facilities to treat infectious or contagious disease patients on site, Ellis Island maintained its contract hospital relationship with the Health Department of New York and Long Island College Hospitals which had been caring for Ellis Island contagious disease patients since 1890. In 1903 New York announced that it wanted to terminate the agreement because the number of patients being sent to New York strained their capacity. The Bureau of Immigration considered the most practical solution was to build a third island, separated from Island 2 by a ferry basin. In response, the surgeon general indicated that an island "with an outside limit of 410 feet from the present island and with 200 feet of clear water space between the two islands, would be amply sufficient to ensure freedom from danger of contagion according to modern ideas of hospital construction. Contemporary hospital design and medical knowledge indicated that a single building was less desirable than a series of several small pavilions, where various diseases could be treated in isolation from other wards." The island measured . The ferry basin was later infilled. The area chosen was between Island 2 and Liberty Island and adjacent to the Jersey City waterfront area known locally as Black Tom. Infill and construction was started but New Jersey claimed title to the area and New York and New Jersey went to court over this riparian rights issue. The government would not permit construction to continue until the land issue was resolved. In 1904, the courts ruled and determined that the location of the proposed Island 3 was indeed part of New York. The immigration department now had clear title and construction was resumed, By the end of 1909 island 3 and the new contagious disease hospitals were completed, but insufficient funds had been allocated to connect the utilities and purchase furniture and equipment for the facility. Congressional authorization for the required funds was not achieved until 1911 and the hospitals opened later that year. The Island 3 buildings included eight two-story-pavilions designated for measles patients, three isolation wards, a morgue and autopsy building, a medical office building; and a three-story administrative building that contained the admitting and discharge facilities, residences for nurses, single doctors, and a small operating room. New York then officially terminated its contract with the Bureau of Immigration and all patients arriving at Ellis Island were treated either in the general hospital or the contagious disease hospital. 1912 was the first full year that the hospital complex was completely open.

1912–1917

When completed, the Ellis Island Hospital held 750 beds, 450 in the Contagious Disease Hospital and 300 in the General Hospital. A "Psychopathic Ward" housed 20–30 male and female patients. Island 2 had a maternity ward to deliver the 350 children born at Ellis Island. The maternity/obstetric facilities moved as the hospital expanded, but were first located on the third floor of the Administrative Building on Island 2. The general hospital building held three separate operating rooms and even dental offices. In 1914 when the hospital became fully operational, over 10,000 patients from 75 different countries were treated. The hospitals used the most advanced methods in medicine for the time. In 1912 the PHS installed a full-scale laboratory, an offshoot of their former laboratory on Staten Island. That PHS Lab, and its pioneering work on germs and germ theory, was moved to Washington, D.C. in 1891 and renamed the National Institutes of Health. At the time, the PHS was the premier agency involved in containing infectious diseases. History has rendered a number of these cutting-edge medical practices obsolete, even offensive. For example, now-discredited eugenic beliefs played a small role at the hospital.

Henry H. Goddard Henry Herbert Goddard (August 14, 1866 – June 18, 1957) was a prominent American psychologist, eugenicist, and segregationist during the early 20th century. He is known especially for his 1912 work '' The Kallikak Family: A Study in the Her ...

established an intelligence testing program on

in 1913. Doctors would use metal calipers to measure the circumference of immigrants' heads, and immigrants of “superior racial stock” were often favored when entering the United States. Additionally, many immigrants were detained at Ellis Island for mental illness and placed in the hospital's psychiatric ward. Some of the contemporary clinical classifications for mental illness are now archaic:

idiot An idiot, in modern use, is a stupid or foolish person. 'Idiot' was formerly a technical term in legal and psychiatric contexts for some kinds of profound intellectual disability where the mental age is two years or less, and the person cannot ...

imbecile The term ''imbecile'' was once used by psychiatrists to denote a category of people with moderate to severe intellectual disability, as well as a type of criminal.Fernald, Walter E. (1912). ''The imbecile with criminal instincts.'' Fourth editi ...

, moron, or

feeble-minded The term feeble-minded was used from the late 19th century in Europe, the United States and Australasia for disorders later referred to as illnesses or deficiencies of the mind. At the time, ''mental deficiency'' encompassed all degrees of educa ...

. It is likely that many of these diagnoses were the product of cultural differences, language barriers, or the immigrants' anxiety about entering a new country, which made their behavior seem slow or out of the ordinary to hospital doctors. In 1913,

Howard Andrew Knox Howard Andrew Knox (March 7, 1885 – July 27, 1949) was an American medical doctor and eugenicist specializing in heart and rheumatic diseases. Serving as an assistant surgeon at Ellis Island during the early 1900s, he made major contributions to ...

developed more objective testing methods to determine with increased accuracy whether an immigrant was mentally deficient. The Knox tests were effective in that they did not require specific cultural knowledge for successful performance. In 1923, the

Daughters of the American Revolution The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a lineage-based membership service organization for women who are directly descended from a person involved in the United States' efforts towards independence. A non-profit group, they promote ...

provided a robust

occupational therapy Occupational therapy (OT) is a global healthcare profession. It involves the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or ''occupations'', of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of ...

program for immigrants detained at Ellis Island. In 1936, the PHS was asked to help with the treatment of World War I veterans, some of whom had shell shock. Because of the success of the DAR's occupational expertise, they were given an entire pavilion (Isolation Ward J) where they worked with U.S. servicemen, merchant seamen, and members of the U.S. Coast Guard and other U.S. government beneficiaries. This work continued until after World War II.

World War I: 1917–1920

The hospitals were closed to immigrants for the first two years of World War I because immigration had virtually ceased due to wartime conditions. In 1917 the hospitals were officially taken over by the War Department and were renamed Debarkation Hospital #1. Their wartime mission was to treat wounded soldiers returning from Europe. The hospital was used to near capacity maintaining the same number of medical staff as it had prior to the War. The medical staff were all still commissioned officers in the PHS, but the facility was run by the War Department. The few immigrants who arrived were treated under contracts by hospitals in New York City. Early in the US involvement in World War I the main facility at Ellis Island was used as an equipping and embarkation facility for the U.S. Navy. Sailors were brought to Ellis Island as they awaited the preparation of their ships for sea. PHS nurses who were being sent to Europe also passed through Ellis Island. They received their equipment and uniforms as well as final training prior to being shipped to hospitals in Europe. Initially quartered at Ellis Island, when the hospitals began to receive military casualties, the nurses were moved to hotels in New York City. Their training continued at Ellis Island. In the spring of 1919 the hospital complex was returned to the Bureau of Immigration and the Public Health Service and was renamed Marine Hospital #43. Immigrants were once again processed at Ellis Island. By 1920 the number of immigrants arriving returned very close to prewar levels and the hospitals were treating similar numbers of patients.

1920 to 1930

According to the 1920 US Census, there were 124 PHS employees living on the Islands including seven doctors, two wives and four children. There were 36 nurses residing at Ellis, 24 female,12 male. All the female nurses were single, some of the male nurses were married. There were a total of 35 doctors employed by the Public Health Service serving in 3 divisions: Boarding, Medical Inspection and Hospital. One of the Commissioned doctors was a woman. The hospital treated almost 9,000 patients a year. During the 1920s, however, the US Congress began to change its immigration policy from an Open Door to a very closed door policy. New immigration laws were passed, explicitly to allow some immigration from Northern and Western Europe while severely restricting immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe. The “National Origins Act,” passed in 1924, established a 2% quota system which drastically reduced immigration from targeted countries. In 1921 over 560,000 immigrants passed through Ellis Island. This drastically reduced overall numbers of immigrants. In 1925, the first full year that the new law was in effect, only 137,000 immigrants were admitted through Ellis Island. Almost overnight the Hospital Complex at Ellis Island held a fraction of the number of immigrant patients it had previously. As the number of immigrants patients decreased the PHS began to use the hospital as a Marine Hospital treating beneficiaries (employees of the US Public Health Service and their families, Merchant Mariners and Coast Guardsmen) as well as immigrants. The Hospital Complex always had the authorization to treat beneficiaries, but because the number of immigrants was so large and because they needed to have the capacity to treat an entire ship load of sick immigrants, the PHS seldom was able to treat beneficiaries. The 1924 National Origins Act further reduced hospital demand by requiring immigrants to have a medical examinations prior to boarding for America. This reduced the need for the Line Inspection at Ellis Island which was very efficient at processing volumes of immigrants but allowed many ill immigrants to enter. The doctors at Ellis Island were able to perform “Intensive Inspections” which were much longer and more thorough at the Immigration facility. Under the new law the staff at Ellis Island was charged with a new task, inspection of Alien Merchant sailors arriving in New York. This practice started in 1926 and within a few months the PHS doctors were examining sailors at the rate of 600,000 a year. The largest concerns were tuberculosis and venereal disease. In 1919, Ellis Island and its hospitals also served as immigration detentions centers after the US Government conducted the Palmer Raids. The Bureau of Investigation (the forerunner of the FBI) had begun rounding up immigrants across the country who had violated the terms of their admission either by becoming Public Charges, committing crimes or being identified as political dissidents – anarchists principally. These immigrants were called Warrant Cases and were shipped to Ellis Island via Jersey City on Deportation Trains. They were mostly held in secure areas of the main building on Island 1 awaiting deportation. If they were ill, they were taken to the hospitals on Islands 2 and 3. A number of measles wards on Island 3 were converted to secure wards. The 1920 Census records 24 anarchists being treated in the hospitals.

Ellis Island Committee Report

When President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

took office in 1933 Ellis Island was run by the Bureau of Immigration which was part of the

Department of Labor The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

. The facilities at Ellis Island were in such bad shape that President Roosevelt instructed the Secretary of Labor,

Francis Perkins Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the 4th United States secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of th ...

, to convene the Ellis Island Committee. Their mission was to evaluate the state of the facilities, to assess current immigration policy and to recommend actions to solve the problems that they identified. In 1934 the Ellis Island Committee submitted a report to Secretary Perkins confirming that current facilities were in disrepair and they were not adequate to fulfill the therapeutic and recreational needs of the patients. The Roosevelt Administration acted on many of the recommendations. The projects that were completed on Islands 2 and 3 included: Completing and landscaping the infill of the area between Islands 2 and 3, for recreational and therapeutic use; adding a recreation shelter for the new lawn space; and construction of a Recreation Building. The Recreation Building replaced the Red Cross building which had been added in 1915, adjacent to Hospital Outbuilding and the corridor to the Ferry. It was a wooden structure that was too small and, by 1934, in very poor condition. The Recreation building was the largest new structure built. Constructed between Islands 2 and 3, it housed a full scale gymnasium and auditorium complete with stage, a film projection booth, a canteen and other recreational facilities. The Surgeon's house on Island 2 which had become a nurses residence was removed. The Surgeons and their families lived the Staff House on Island 3 and the nurses quarters were all moved the Administrative building on Island 3. In addition to the new structures, extensive work was done on the Contagious Disease Hospital. Metal doors were added in the psychiatric wards. There were two maximum security psychiatric wards created by remodeling 2 measles wards, one for women and one for men. Specialized plumbing was added to the Tuberculosis wards. Much of the extant structures seen today are the result of these renovations. The work was performed between 1934 and by the end of 1936 by two New Deal programs within the Department of Labor: the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...

and the

New Deal The New Deal was a series of programs, public work projects, financial reforms, and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1939. Major federal programs agencies included the Civilian Cons ...

of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. The conversion of the wards and other work was also done by these two agencies.

After closure

In 1954, the remaining parts of Ellis Island were closed and declared “excess federal property”. Despite redevelopment of Ellis Island's north side, the south side remained abandoned because of disagreements over its proposed use. The NPS held a competition for proposals to redevelop the south side in 1981. The NPS selected a plan for a conference center and a 250-to-300-room Sheraton hotel on the site of the hospital. In 1985, while restoration of the north side of Ellis Island was underway, Interior Secretary

Donald P. Hodel Donald Paul Hodel (born May 23, 1935) is an American former politician who served as United States Secretary of Energy and Secretary of the Interior. He was known during his tenure as Secretary of the Interior for his controversial "Hodel Policy, ...

convened a long-inactive federal commission to determine how the south side of Ellis Island should be used. Though the hotel proposal was dropped in 1986 for lack of funds, the NPS allowed developer William Hubbard to redevelop the south side as a convention center, though Hubbard was not able to find investors. The south side was proposed for possible future development even through the late 1990s. In 1996, the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

listed the hospital as one of the world's 100 Most Endangered Properties, a warning echoed by the

National Trust for Historic Preservation The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately funded, nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that works in the field of historic preservation in the United States. The member-supported organization was founded in 1949 by ...

, which put the buildings on the list of “most endangered historical places in the United States.” A study conducted by the

New York Landmarks Conservancy The New York Landmarks Conservancy is a non-profit organization "dedicated to preserving, revitalizing, and reusing" historic structures in New York state. It provides technical assistance, project management services, grants, and loans, to owne ...

estimated that with about $3 million of federal funding, the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital could be stabilized for the next 15 years. According to the Conservancy, that would allow time to develop a long-term preservation plan.

Architecture

Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Fill Between Islands

The present day footprint of the island is as opposed to the original island. Though the current island's landmass was originally three separate islands, the Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital consisted of 22 buildings spread over the southern two islands. The islands were man-made, using excavated fill and concrete from the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

, as well as other building demolition spoils. The fill was retained with a system of wood piles and cribbing, and later encased with more than 7,700 linear feet of concrete and granite sea wall, placed atop either wood piles, cribbing, or submerged bags of concrete. Island 2 was created in 1899, and island 3 in 1906. The second ferry basin between islands 2 and 3 was infilled in the 1920s to create the great lawn. It was started by building the concrete and granite seawall to connect the tip of islands 2 and 3. The basin was subsequently filled to create the lawn. A central corridor runs southward from the ferry building on the west side of the island. Two additional corridors split eastward down the centers of islands 2 and 3. During its peak years, the hospital employed over 150 doctors, nurses, and other staff, many of whom lived in dormitories on the islands. According to the 1920 Census, 124 lived on the Islands. Red Cross workers also volunteered frequently, with a special focus on making the hospital more comfortable and enjoyable for the immigrant children. A hospital school taught children about personal hygiene, neatness, and good manners.

General hospital

Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - South Facing Porch

The main building of the general hospital originally consisted of 125 beds and was eventually expanded to 300. Original concepts for the hospital included a rooftop bistro-style sitting and recreational area. With the Administration Building and Hospital Extension, the general hospital comprised four operating rooms, a women's ward, a pediatric ward, a maternity ward, and a psychiatric ward. It was equipped with two birdcage elevators. Wards were open, and had lots of windows for ventilation and natural light. Each ward was also provided with a south-facing porch for fresh air, and activity. The operating rooms were located on the third floor and had skylights in order to provide the best lighting possible. Supplemental lighting was provided via I.P. Frink. The structures on Island 2 shared the same design as the original facilities on island 1: a brick facade in Flemish bond,

quoin Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...

s, and limestone ornamentation. All structures were internally connected via covered passageways.

Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Smith Drum

Along the central corridor connecting the islands, (on Island 2, just south of the ferry terminal) is the Laundry Building, which was constructed in 1900–1901 along with the now-demolished surgeon's house. The structure is one and a half stories tall with a hip roof and skylights facing to the north and south. Repaired repeatedly throughout its history, the laundry-outbuilding was last restored in 2002. It had linen, laundry, and disinfecting rooms; a boiler room; a morgue with autopsy room; and quarters for the laundry staff on the second floor. To the east of the Laundry Building, on island 2 is the psychopathic ward, a two-story building erected in 1906–1907. This building is the only structure in the hospital complex to have a flat roof, and it previously also had a porch to its south. It housed 25 to 30 beds and was intended for the temporary treatment of immigrants suspected of being insane or having mental disorders, pending their deportation, hospitalization, or commitment to sanatoria. Male and female patients were segregated, and there were also a dayroom, veranda, nurse's office, and small pantry on each floor. In 1952 the psychopathic ward was converted into a Coast Guard

brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

. The main General Hospital building is directly east of the psychopathic ward. It is composed of three similarly designed structures: from west to east, they are Hospital Building No. 1 (built 1900–1901), the Administration Building (1905–1907), and Hospital Building No. 2 (1908–1909). The 3.5-story building no. 1 is shaped like an inverted "C" with two 2.5-story rectangular wings facing southward; the wings contain two-story-tall porches. The administration building is smaller but also 3.5 stories. The 3.5-story building no. 2 is similar to building no. 1, but also has a three-story porch at the south elevation of the central pavilion. All three buildings have stone-stoop entrances on their north facades and courtyards on their south.

Contagious disease hospital

On Island 3, the contagious disease hospital comprised eight separate two-story pavilions, an administration building, and a kitchen all connected by a center and three completely separated isolation pavilions extending along the same corridor axis. The 16 measles wards, (also known as ward A-H) were built in phases from 1906 to 1909. In sequence, the two-story pavilions were arranged with four pavilions each to the west and east of island 3's administration building and the kitchen building. Wards A, B, E and F were located south of the connection corridor; wards C, D, G, H, to the north of corridor. Each of these pavilions held all the necessary service spaces to function independently, and each ward could be sealed off in order to prevent cross-contamination, the principal cause of death prior to the invention of antibiotics . Most of the structures were completed in 1911. The three isolation wards were located along the axis of the corridor but beyond the limits of its enclosure. Each contained two separate wards. The power house/sterilizer/autopsy theater, mortuary, laboratory/pharmacy building were located at the southwest end of the connecting corridor and the Staff House at the Northeast end. The kitchen building and Administrative building, which also was dormitory for the nurses, were located in the center of the corridor. All structures were designed by James Knox Taylor in the

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( it, Rinascimento ) was a period in Italian history covering the 15th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Europe and marked the trans ...

style and are distinguished by red-tiled hip roofs, exposed rafter tails,

roughcast Roughcast or pebbledash is a coarse plaster surface used on outside walls that consists of lime and sometimes cement mixed with sand, small gravel and often pebbles or shells. The materials are mixed into a slurry and are then thrown at the wor ...

or pebble dashed walls of

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

, and ornamentation of brick and limestone. Several design features of the hospital were specifically intended to help contain the diseases. The laundry facility was equipped with a large steam-heated

to sanitize mattresses. In

Tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

Wards, each patient room had two sinks. The higher sink was used for spitting and the lower sink was for washing. The autopsy amphitheater which contained an eight-cadaver refrigerator, became a well-known teaching hall, drawing medical observers from teaching hospitals in the United States and Europe. Eventually, the hospital boasted 22 wards, including separate wards for men, women, children, surgery patients, and the insane.

Structures

Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Island 3 Exterior

The Office Building and Laboratory is a 2.5-story structure located at the west end of island 3. It housed doctors' offices and a

dispensary A dispensary is an office in a school, hospital, industrial plant, or other organization that dispenses medications, medical supplies, and in some cases even medical and dental treatment. In a traditional dispensary set-up, a pharmacist dispen ...

on the first floor, along with a laboratory and pharmacists' quarters on the second floor. In 1924, the first floor offices were converted into male nurses' quarters. A one-story

morgue A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cus ...

is located east of the office building, and was converted to the "Animal House" circa 1919. An "L"-shaped powerhouse and laundry building, built in 1908, is also located on the west side of island 3. It has a square north wing with boiler, coal, and pump rooms, as well as a rectangular south wing with laundry and disinfection rooms, staff kitchen, and staff pantry. The powerhouse and laundry also had a distinctive yellow-brick smokestack. Part of the building was converted into a morgue and autopsy room in the 1930s. To the east are the eight

pavilions. All of the pavilions are identical, two-story rectangular structures. Each pavilion held a spacious open ward with large windows on three sides and independent ventilation ducts. A hall leading to the connecting corridor was flanked by bathrooms, nurses' duty room, offices, and a serving kitchen. The administration building for the Contagious Disease Hospital is a 3.5-story structure located on the north side of island 3's connecting corridor, in the center of the landmass. It included reception rooms, offices, and a staff kitchen on the first floor; nurses' quarters and operating rooms on the second floor; and additional staff quarters on the third floor. A one-story kitchen with a smokestack is located opposite the administration building to the south. At the extreme eastern end of island three were three separate isolation pavilions, which contained (wards I-L) and a staff house. These pavilions were intended for patients with more serious infectious diseases, including

, and a combination of either of these diseases with measles and

whooping cough Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or ...

. Each pavilion was a 1.5-story rectangular structure. Wards I and K are located to the south of the connecting corridor while ward L is located to the north; originally, all three pavilions were freestanding structures, but covered ways were built between wards I and K and the center corridor in 1914. There were also nurses' quarters in each attic. The staff building. located at the extreme east end of island 3's connecting corridor, is a 2.5-story building for high-ranking hospital staff. Living and dining rooms, a kitchen, and a library were located on the first floor while bedrooms were located on the second floor. File:Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Isolation Ward.jpg, An isolation ward File:Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Operating Room.jpg, An operating room with white tile walls File:Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Kitchen in Staff House.jpg, The kitchen inside the staff house File:Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Large Autoclave.jpg, A large autoclave to sanitize mattresses File:Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Two Sinks.jpg, Two sinks in a Tuberculosis ward with the Statue of Liberty reflected in the mirror File:Ellis Island Immigrant Hospital - Autopsy Amphitheater.jpg, The autopsy amphitheater

Public access

From 1955 to 2014 the hospital was not accessible to the general public. In 2014, the hospital opened to the public for guided 90-minute "Hard-Hat Tours". The Hard-Hat Tour ticket requires an additional fee on top of the regular ferry ticket. The additional fee revenues help fund the preservation of the south side. However, all tourists are required to stay with their tour groups and wear hard hats, and videos of the site are prohibited without prior approval.

In media

Ellis Island hospital window mural (01897)

In 2014, "Unframed – Ellis Island", an art installation by the French street artist JR, was installed. The work can be seen as part of the Hard-Hat Tour and includes murals of figures who would have occupied each of the respective hospital buildings. '' Forgotten Ellis Island'', a documentary by

Lorie Conway Lorie Conway is an American independent producer and filmmaker. Her work has received Peabody, DuPont and CableACE awards. In 1993–94, she was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University; she served for eight years as Vice President of the Nieman Fou ...

, explores the abandoned buildings on the island and covers the history of the hospital. Conway also tracked down immigrants and descendants of immigrants who had spent time in the hospital and discussed their experiences with them. The film premiered on Ellis Island and was later shown on CBS in 2007. On October 29, 2019, ''The Today Show'' aired a piece on the Immigrant Hospitals titled "Al Roker gets a tour of the abandoned Ellis Island hospitals."

References

Notes

Bibliography

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External links

* {{Authority control Ellis Island History of immigration to the United States History of New York City Defunct hospitals in New York City Hospitals in Hudson County, New Jersey Government buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey Buildings and structures in Jersey City, New Jersey Government buildings in New York City Tourist attractions in Hudson County, New Jersey Historic American Buildings Survey in New Jersey Historic district contributing properties in New Jersey National Register of Historic Places in Hudson County, New Jersey Hospital buildings completed in 1902 Hospitals established in 1902 Hospitals disestablished in 1930 Defunct hospitals in New Jersey Historic district contributing properties in Manhattan Hospital buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in New Jersey United States Marine Hospitals