Pay tribute to your family’s heritage at Ellis Island’s American Immigrant Wall of Honor
Via Flickr
There’s a steel wall in the Hudson River that celebrates immigrants, the only place in the United States where heritage can be honored at a national monument. The American Immigrant Wall of Honor first opened on Ellis Island in 1990 to recognize the country’s many immigrants and to raise money for the site’s National Museum of Immigration and the Statue of Liberty. Currently, there are 770 panels engraved with the names of nearly 775,000 immigrants. But spots on the wall are filling up, as the New York Times reported on Wednesday. Just five panels remain empty, enough space for roughly 3,300 names.
The wall honors immigrants of all eras and ethnicities, representing families and individuals, and those both living and deceased. According to the Statue of Liberty- Ellis Foundation, “virtually every nationality is represented on the wall from every inhabited continent on the face of the earth.” This includes, as the foundation’s website reads, those who “endured forced migration from slavery” and American Indians.
For those who wish to submit a name to be engraved the wall, fill out an online form or request a form by mail. One family or an individual name costs $150 and two-name entries cost $225. And for contributions of $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000, you are entitled to two full lines on the wall. Paper reproductions of each wall panel can be purchased for $30 per panel.
Visitors can search for their family’s name online here before visiting the Wall of Honor in person. The memorial will remain open during the government shutdown thanks to funding from New York State.
[Via NY Times]
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