Ellis Island: The Dream of America
Ellis Island: The Dream of America is a work for actors and orchestra with projected images by American composer Peter Boyer, composed in 2001-02, commissioned by the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford, Connecticut. The work combines first-person narrations of seven immigrants who entered the United States through Ellis Island between 1910 and 1940, selected by Boyer from the Ellis Island Oral History Project, with Boyer’s original orchestral music. The work has received over 170 performances by more than 75 orchestras. A recording of the work released on the Naxos record label was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Contemporary Composition in the 48th annual Grammy Awards. In April 2017, performances by Pacific Symphony of "Ellis Island: The Dream of America" were filmed for broadcast on PBS’ "Great Performances" series in the 2017-18 broadcast season.
Earl Hancock Ellis
Ellis served with the Fourth Brigade (Marine) in France from April to December, 1920. On December 11, 1920 Ellis reported to Commandant John A. Lejeune, who assigned Ellis to head the intelligence section of the newly established Division of Operations and Training (DOT) at Headquarters Marine Corps (HQMC). During this assignment, he prepared an essay regarding the details of military and civil operations required to eradicate subversion and insurgency, titled "Bush Brigades"'. This essay was considered controversial because Marines had been recently accused of killing local citizens in the Philippines and Haiti. As a result, "Bush Brigades" was never officially published, though it was printed and circulated among Marines and other members of the US military.