Ellis Island
Ellis Island, in Upper New York Bay, was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the U.S. as the United States' busiest immigrant inspection station for over 60 years from 1892 until 1954. Ellis Island was opened January 1, 1892. The island was greatly expanded with land reclamation between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the site of Fort Gibson and later a naval magazine. The island was made part of the Statue of Liberty National Monument in 1965 and has hosted a museum of immigration since 1990.
Doraine and Ellis
By 1944, Doraine and Ellis's overseas work in World War II had taken them on a 13-month tour of fighting fronts in 23 countries, placing them in the ranks of the most seasoned veterans of U.S.O. camp shows. The couple's U.S.O. shows took them to Iceland, England, and British, French, and Dutch Guiana in addition to many tropical island locations that they were prevented from disclosing to others at the time for security reasons. "A lot of times we were flown to a ship or an island and never did know just where we were," Ellis said in a contemporary newspaper article about their work.