Migration-Related Resources on the World Wide Web

Abstract

Angel Island: Life in Detainment . Often called the Pacific Gateway or the Island of the West, Angel Island was a stopping point for the majority of Asians who immi grated to the United States. The International Channel maintains this site, focusing on immigrants' experiences while detained at Angel Island. Separate pages address living conditions, medical examinations, and interrogation, while another investigates the poetry some immigrants carved into the walls of the facility. Angel Island: Stories, Photography, and Poetry: . This web site, sponsored by the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, offers a look into the history of the island and into the experiences of those who traveled through it. It addresses such issues as the Open Door Policy, the Coolie trade, Asian railroad workers, and the virulent racism many Asian immigrants faced. Arduini and Pizzo: An Italian-American Family History: . A family's decision to rediscover its roots becomes an educational opportunity for all. Created by Frank Arduini in 1994, this site records the histories of the Arduini and Pizzo families?two Italian immigrant clans joined in marriage in 1947. Arduini includes over thirty stories and eighty photographs on his pages, offering a very personal view of what it is like to build lives and legacies in a new country. Ellis Island Photography, 19004920: . Part of the Keystone-Mast Collection of the California Museum of Photography, this site contains numerous photos taken at Ellis Island during the great waves of immigration in the early twentieth century. The collection includes images of the structure and makeup of the Ellis Island facility, as well as photos of immigrants undergoing various examinations and questioning. This site provides an excellent resource for jump-starting discussions on the immigrant experience. Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild: . Founded only a year ago, the Immigrant Ship Tran scribers Guild (ISTG) now has over five hundred volunteer members who translate, decipher, and transcribe the passenger lists of immi grant ships to the United States. Currently available online are the lists for nearly two thousand ships dating back as far as the mid 1600s. Teachers and students can easily navigate and search the site for names, dates, ports of departure, or ports of arrival. Learning About Immigration Through Oral History: . This lesson plan, part of the Library of Congress American Memory Collection, uses the oral histories of contemporary immigrants in east central Illinois to teach students the process of historiography and give them an understanding of our nation's ethnic diversity. The plan uses selections from the American Memory online collection as well as print and video resources. The lesson can be geared toward high school or middle school classes, spans several curricular areas, and can comprise either a short unit or a semester-long study. Learning, and Earning, Their Stripes: . The text of this site originally appeared in the Washington Post in 1996. It includes an article describing the controversial process of U.S. citizenship testing and a list of one hundred questions that the Immigration and Naturalization Service gives prospective citizens to prepare for their naturalization exam. Having students take the test provides an nice introduction to issues of citizenship and immigration.