Liberty and Ellis Island

 

 Standing tall amid grey skies

Our tour guide set aside several hours for our group to visit Ellis Island. But when the ferry stopped at the Statue of Liberty island first, we all hopped off to see the new museum that had opened earlier in the week. The museum was wonderful, reminding us of the history of the statue as well as providing effective displays about liberty and human rights. I fought back tears several times when I thought about how tenuous freedom can be, especially in today's divisive political climate. I openly cried while rereading Emma Lazarus's timely poem, "The New Colossus," which proudly accompanies Lady Liberty:

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cried she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, 
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

What would have happened if my grandparents hadn't been allowed to immigrate to the U.S. nearly 100 years ago?

I grew more hopeful as we walked around the base of Lady Liberty. In her left arm is a tablet of law bearing the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, while the broken chains of tyranny lie at her feet. Perhaps even more meaningful is the torch of truth and justice, which many would say we need now more than ever. I smiled as people from literally all over the world laughed and snapped selfies in front of our most iconic symbol of democracy. 

Next stop: Ellis Island.

Inside the museum: the original torch

 

Full-sized model of Liberty's face

 

Replica of the full-sized ear that the statue's sculptor, 

Frederic Bartholdi, kept in his house (!) 

after Lady Liberty left for the U.S. 

 

Tim comparing shoe sizes with the Lady's full-size model foot

 

Trick of the camera: looking out at the statue

and flag from inside the museum

 

Ellis Island, where immigrants were received and processed until 1954

 

Artsy shot of the Ellis Island staircase

 

Courtyard

 

Registration Hall where immigrants' fates were decided:

allowed into the U.S. or sent back to homeland?