If Your Name Was Changed At Ellis Island Paperback – August 1, 1994

This is a wonderful book! It tells the stories of children immigrating to America. We bought it to go with a Heritage Scrapbook Album for the family. Through this book the family related to the children and also more related to their own ancestor's stories.

It's a great book I used YEARS ago when I was teaching 2nd grade. It hits home for me because my grandparents were all immigrants. I purchased this copy for my niece, whose 3rd grade class was studying the Pilgrims, as well as other groups of people who had many different reasons to come to America. My grandfather and his brother came through Ellis Island together and ended up with different last names. As far as I'm concerned, this story a classic.

The book is a good way for young children to learn about the immigration process of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. That being said, I absolutely MUST object to the author encouraging even more people to swallow the fable that employees at Ellis Island changed names of immigrants! It simply did not happen. Yes, I'm aware that every other family of Ellis Island immigrant descendants has their story about some arrogant clerk being unable to pronounce Wojciechowski and so the clerk informs the hapless immigrant that his new name was Smith or Miller or some other "American sounding" name. It's ridiculous on its face because there were interpreters of countless languages ready to translate for the new immigrants so that communication was simplified. Fiorello H. LaGuardia was once such interpreter. This was a federal installation and all the paperwork had to match up. The names the immigrants gave had to match up with the names on the ship's manifest. The manifests were made out in the port of origin before the ship ever set sail for America. If the immigrant wanted to change their name before they left home in order to fit in or hope for better treatment from their new neighbors, they could certainly give the name of their choice when asked. The name-change fable is an enduring one and it's rather insulting to those of us who know better, but it's even more insulting to the people who struggled to come to America and try to live life in a strange new place.Next I will attempt to wipe out the "my great-grandmother was a Cherokee princess" fairy tale. Wish me luck.

Great book. A wonderful way to give your children/grandchildren a background of the US. Got me to thinking about stories my parents, grandparents told me about family history. Very appropriate at this time with immigrants being such a hot topic!!!Sorry more people haven't read it or critiqued it. It is a must read for all Americans who had family coming through Ellis Island. Used with 2 grandkids, have 2 more to share it. Live near enough to visit the Grand Lady.

My 8 year old daughter had to do a non-fiction booklet report. We were perusing the internet and came across Ellis Island as a possible subject to cover. Perfect layout for picking out specific details, broken down with easy to find bolded subjects and easy to read. Now she wants to visit the island!!

Wonderful historical facts for young children. One of my favorite series to use in the classroom or just to give as gifts.

My family came through Ellis Island in the late 1890s so when my mother bought this book for me when I was a child it was very significant. As I got older I became very interested in genealogy and my ancestral history. In doing my research and discussing with other professional genealogists and historians I learned that having your name changed at Ellis Island was actually a myth. The historical truth is that there was NO WAY an immigrant could get through Ellis Island or any immigration services without proper papers. Those papers would have an immigrant's name on it. Ellis Island was run very tight, they had interpreters, inspectors, etc. If an immigrant changed their name it was usually by choice and AFTER they left Ellis Island and to fit in or Americanize.If you want to know more about the myth of names being changed at Ellis Island, just Google it. There is a lot of information out there. Unfortunately, this books was written before that research was done.

Great condition