Immigrants waiting for

the medical examination

Carefully, you wipe the chalk markings from your friend's shoulder. When she looks back you tell her you were wiping off a bit of dust. The ruse worked. You and your friend are sent into the same line.

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This next stage of the processing consists of the medical examination; six in total. One doctor makes you place your palms firmly on the desk and inspects the color of your nails.

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Another listens to your lungs and heart.

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The worst was the buttonhook test, although you didn't know what it was called then. A doctor takes a small hook and opens your eyelid looking for inflamed and watery eyes. You later will learn that they are looking for trachoma, a highly infectious disease of the eyes.

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You find yourself in the Great Room, with high ceiling and large bright windows. You present your passport and ship papers to a stern looking official who barks out question after question. Since you don't understand a word of English, a Yiddish interpreter is called for you.

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'Why have you come to the United States?'

'Do you have a job?'

'Do you have family here?'

'Have you ever been arrested?'

'Have you ever been in an insane asylum?'

'Can you read and write?'

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Having passed the health inspection you are sent into a new line and down the Stairway of Separation where you enter the Great Hall at Ellis Island for more processing.

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You notice those with the chalk markings are being sent into a different direction. Your friend from the ship is among them. They march straight ahead for the detention rooms. Some of these people will be returned to Europe.

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The last inspector asks you to show that you have the necessary $20 so that you will not be considered a burden for your new country. You reach into the inside pocket of your coat and produce a small wallet full of coins. Satisfied that you have passed all of the necessary requirements, he passes you on to board the ferry that will take you to Manhattan. Congratulations you have made it to America.

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Outside on the streets of Manhattan, the air crackles with life as people surge through the crowded streets trying to get from here to there or there to here. You catch up with your friend to say that you hope to see each other in New York sometime. She tells you that she is heading to a place called Massachusetts where she has a job lined up at a textile factory. She tells you that her brother got her the job and could get you one too; it would be easy she says, such places are always hiring.

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On the other hand, you have family waiting for you in New York. They are only distant cousins and you scarcely know them, but family is family and you already made it to New York.