Ellis Island

It was the Irish potato famine for me.  For many, it was religious persecution, financial despair - and most often, simply an unquenchable conviction that America offered hope for a better future.  These are some of the reasons many of our ancestors made the dangerous trek across oceans to become a part of the newest and greatest nation on earth.  Many of them entered through Ellis Island in New York City.  (Photo by melanzane on Flickr).

Although no longer functioning as a check point for immigration, Ellis Island is now a tribute to the hundreds of thousands of lives that began again upon entering the United States of America.  Their bravery and optimism is celebrated, their names listed in a tribute to their dedication to a better life, their faces pictured - forever captured in history as people who dared to hope.

Ellis Island is the perfect attraction for student tours because it memorializes such a pivotal era in American history.  Our generation - and several before us - is lucky enough never to have felt the kind of despair that caused these immigrants to leave the countries of their birth.  We take for granted the freedoms they were promised.  Some of us even lose faith at times in the country that was esteemed so highly then.  Perhaps if we could see what they did, our faith would be restored.

Consider Ellis Island for New York City educational tours.  It was the beginning of new life for millions of people.  And the beginning is always a good place to start.