Givens, J. D. Immigration Station, Angel Island, Cal. c. 1915. Gelatin silver print. The Library of Congress. Washington D. C. https://www.loc.gov/item/2007660596/
Ellis Island is seen as the prominent point of entry to the US for immigrants. Showing that America had multiple coasts that were responsible for immigration will help demonstrate the varied nature of immigration to the US. This will also serve as an excellent demonstration how students can have one view of a topic and then see a completely different view.
This is a panoramic picture of an immigration station off the coast of San Francisco, CA.
The Chinese Exclusion Act was a federal law passed by Congress in 1882 that prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States for 10 years. This was implemented due to the perception that there were “too many” Chinese in the US during the gold rush years. It was problematic, as it violated treaties already in place with China. The Chinese workers who lived here had to carry documentation of their status in the US, not unlike current green card holders of workers in the US. Up until 2017 and Executive Order 13769, the Chinese had been the only nationality excluded from immigrating to the US in the history of all US immigration.
- What is the first element you see?
- How is this similar to the Statue of Liberty?
- What questions do you have for a partner?
- Where do you think this is located? Why?
- What is the time period of this photo?
Texas ELAR TEKS and Texas Social Studies TEKS
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ELA Standards |
Social Studies standards |
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6.5E: make connections to personal experiences, ideas in other texts, and society.
6.6G: discuss and write about the explicit or implicit meanings of text
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6.1A: trace characteristics of various contemporary societies in regions that resulted from historical events or factors such as colonization, immigration, and trade.
6.1B: analyze the historical background of various contemporary societies to evaluate relationships between past conflicts and current conditions.
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- The Library of Congress has a Primary Sources Analysis Tool that asks students to Observe, Reflect, and Question. Differentiation of this could ask students with a different set of words to See, Think, Wonder. This method can be used in conjunction with the focus questions or as a stand-alone activity.
- This is the immigration station that is discussed at length in the middle-grade nonfiction book by Russell Freedman, Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain. This would be an excellent comparison to an informational text that has its own collection of primary sources and details the history and the restoration of the buildings. It is a fascinating book and blends literary nonfiction well with primary and secondary sources.
- This could also start the building of something like a Connection Circle or Connection Diagram. With this photo as one point on a wheel, what came before it in history that made it necessary and then how does it connect to what came after it?
- Students could also write about explicit connections between parts of the wheel and then about implicit connections between parts of the wheel.
- The potential challenge for this information comes alongside the current backlash against immigrants in the US. This issue may not be something parents of fourth- to sixth-graders want at the forefront of their child’s education, but in most states, the teaching of immigration begins in the fourth grade and is covered widely starting in sixth grade. Studying cross-curricular topics allows students to see their classes as connected instead of insular in nature.
Links to resources for approaching those topics
- The Immigrant Learning Center has a wealth of resources on teaching immigration thoughtfully and accurately.
- The Advocates for Human Rights has a 140 page booklet of lesson plans to aid teachers in teaching immigration accurately.
- Landing at Ellis Island gives a more Anglo-centric narrative of immigration in the US. This can show the hardship immigrants faced as they came ashore, whereas the Angel Island one has no people in it.
- The Immigrant's Guide to Texas was published after the Gold Rush of 1849 and offers informational print information for immigrants from a dominant Anglo culture. This was printed by the Texas Real Estate and Collection Bureau. There are 230 photos in this collection.
- The Texas Historical Commission has a timeline of Asian heritage in Texas and would be a good companion with nonfiction articles to read, in addition to research opportunities for students. There is also a profile for current Chinese immigrant populations in New York, as well as a National Park designation and website of Little Italy and Chinatown in New York.
- The State Department has a website that outlines what The Chinese Exclusion Act was and how Chinese immigration was affected. It also details this historical context around the perceived need for this piece of legislation. Similarly, The National Archives has a page with more primary sources and extended details of this time in American history.
- There is an Ellis Island site from the National Parks Service that has valuable documents and information about immigration to the US throughout history.