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Once you arrived on Ellis Island, doctors examined you. As you walked up the entry steps to the Great Hall, the doctors looked at you to see if you had problems breathing or if you were limping. If the doctors noticed you were limping, having trouble breathing, or having any other visible problems, they would put a chalk letter on your clothes. Here are some of the markings: L = lameness, PG = pregnant, X in a circle definite mental illness, or X= possible mental illness. Follow this link to see the full list of markings. Once you got up to the top of the stairs, doctors made you walk in a circle to check for further problems. Next, doctors rolled back your eyelids with a button hook or their fingers. They checked for a disease called trachoma. Trachoma is a disease that causes you to go blind and is contagious. ***Present time note: The tour guides at Ellis Island said that the buttonhook probably wasn't sterilized after every person.*** If you had trachoma your chances of getting into America medically were zilch. Doctors checked for all contagious diseases. They also checked for lice and typhus. All the medical exams put together took less than five minutes. |
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After you had been checked out by the doctors, you had to pass a mental exam. If doctors marked you with an X or an X in a circle, the doctors payed closer attention to you when you took these tests. The doctors had you perform things that we think are incredibly easy, but if you were an immigrant who had no education, the tests were very hard. Of course, not all immigrants did not have education. The tests were easier for those immigrants who did have an education. Some of the puzzles immigrants had to complete were: a steamship puzzle, a face puzzle, a happy sad face puzzle, 2 matching puzzles, and several geometric shape puzzles. Also, immigrants had to draw a diamond and the diamonds were classified by how many years of education the immigrant, who drew it, had. |
The last exam was the
legal exam. This exam was very frightening for some
immigrants because they had to answer a lot of questions
very quickly and if they answered one wrong they could be
deported. They were asked about 30 questions in 2 minutes.
In the legal exam, immigrants would be asked questions like:
What is your name? Do you have any relatives here? Do you
have a criminal record? Have you ever been to the United
States before? Follow
this link for the full list of
questions.
In order to pass the
legal exam you had to have 25 U.S. dollars. If you did not
have that much money, you had to stay until you got it.
Legal inspectors would also check your ID to see if you were
really who you said you were. Legal inspectors also
determined if you were "Clearly and beyond a doubt entitled
to land". In 1917, Congress passed
the "Literacy Act" which meant that any immigrant had to
read a 40 word passage in his native language. In 1921 and
1924 congress passed acts limiting the number of immigrants
from all countries.
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1. X = possible mental illness |
2. B = back |
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3. E = eyes |
4. P = physical or lungs |
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5. SC = scalp |
6. L = lameness |
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7. CT =trachoma |
8. PG = pregnancy |
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9. C = conjunctivitis |
10. FT = feet |
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11. S = senility |
12. N = neck |
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13. H = heart |
14. SI = ( legal exam only) you had to see the board of special inquiry |
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15. X with circle around it = definite mental illness |
16. G = goiter |
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17. F = face |
18. K = hernia |