Today in History
What went down and why you should care.
nov 12 Learn More Ellis Island Closed
Ellis Island closed on this day in 1954. It's a popular misconception that family names were changed as immigrants came through the inspection station—you know, like Petrovichamilochowski being changed to Peters—and here's why: Ellis Island officers didn't take immigrants' names; they just checked them off the ship's manifest. So the name a person departed with was the same one he or she arrived with. It's more likely that your great-great-grandpa's name was changed by his boss or a neighbor who found it too tough to pronounce.
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