I was able to go inside the Baggage and Dormitory building, which would be the next building to be renovated if plans go forward, and had the pleasure of shooting some of the same scenes 23 years later (see "Registry," "Chairs" and "Dining Room" for a side-by-side comparison).

Later I was interviewed on audiotape about the film my friend and I had made as part of their oral history project. I laughed when the interviewer, reading off a sheet of questions, asked my the name of the ship I came over on. The rowboat didn't have a name. I also donated a copy of the film Steve and I had made to the permanent collection of the museum. I also had the only photographs that showed some of the remnants of the takeover off Ellis by protestors in the early 1970s. One photograph shows a Monopoly board they must have played to pass the time.

I've been collecting the stories people have sent. Here are a few:

"My ancestors came through those very doors you photographed. When I saw those photographs it was like... I could half way empathize with them for two seconds. Although I will never know the feelings they felt when they saw this glorious place of refuge from Hitler, because of your photographs I will at least know what the first scenes of America my great-grand parents beheld." "The first time I ever saw where my grandfather landed. I could picture this man from Italy with all his dreams. He is gone now and many of his great grandchildren are college graduates and have added to the might of this great country. Thanks Phil for this view and thanks gramps for the foresight."

If you got to this page on Ellis Island directly rather than via my "Modern Ruins" page you may want to check out the 17 more photos of Ellis Island shot in 1974 at www.inch.com/~buehler/ruins/ellis.