![]() These federal employees have been accused of, at best, carelessness, and at worst, racial prejudice, both presumably perpetuated while they were on the job. Other writers have dealt with why and how surnames evolved or were altered as immigrants settled into US cities to begin their lives as Americans 4 the focus here is on presumed behavior of clerks at Ellis Island and other immigration points during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when they encountered (primarily) European surnames. Unfortunately, that incorrect conclusion has proved quite “sticky.” In addressing this gap, however, many seekers have reached the wrong conclusion. Among the conclusions reached is, “When we have a gap in our knowledge, we strive to resolve it.”3 Across America today, people descended from nineteenth- and twentieth-century European immigrants strive to resolve why their family’s surname is different from the (presumed) original. Why is this myth so persistent? Malcolm Gladwell, in his book The Tipping Point, explains his concept of “stickiness,” the elusive quality that some ideas and concepts have: they catch on and don’t let go.2 Since Gladwell’s book was published in 2000, social science and behavior research has explored the nature of “sticky” ideas. But the belief persists, perhaps because people need to explain surname changes in a way that satisfies them (thinking that their immigrant ancestors made the changes themselves apparently does not do so). In genealogy blogs and online publications, they wearily repeat the correction-names were not changed at Ellis Island immigrants changed their own names, usually during the citizenship process. Sophisticated family history researchers have long rolled their collective eyes at the “Ellis Island name change” idea. ![]() ![]() The belief persists, however, that the changes were done at the entry point and that the immigrants were unwilling participants in the modifications. Many names did get changed as immigrants settled into their new American lives, but those changes were made several years after arrival and were done by choice of someone in the family. No one’s family name was changed, altered, shortened, butchered, or “written down wrong” at Ellis Island or any American port. If one is to believe these earnest posters, the surnames of immigrants to the United States were routinely treated in a shoddy, unprofessional manner by the government representatives at American ports. Our Italian surname was changed at Ellis Island when my great-grandparents came over. My great-grandfather and his two brothers came over together from Lithuania and left Ellis Island with three different last names. Some of my relatives’ surnames were recorded incorrectly on arrival. My great-grandfather came through and the name was shortened and changed by the worker. Here is a sampling of recent statements in an online forum asking people whether they believe that such a thing happened: 1 My family name was probably shortened from something Eastern European to something German, certainly at Ellis Island. A search of the internet on the phrase “name was changed at Ellis Island” yields more than 300,000 hits variations on the phrase yield even more. Most Americans are familiar with the idea that immigrants to the United States during the Ellis Island years (1892–1954) had their surnames altered by the processing officials, either deliberately or through ignorance of the correct spelling. Kennedy (Yale commencement Speech, June 11, 1962) Changes were made later, by the immigrants themselves, usually during the naturalization process.įor the great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie (deliberate, contrived, and dishonest), but the myth: persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. The idea that names were changed at the point of entry is a myth, an urban legend promoted by a popular film. ![]() Records kept by the government demonstrate conclusively that immigrants left Ellis Island with the same surnames they had arrived with. The names of arriving passengers were already written down on manifests required by the federal government, lists which crossed the ocean with the passengers. The charge against immigration officials, however, is provably false: no names were written down at Ellis Island, and thus no names were changed there. One question that routinely comes up in genealogy research: why is the family’s surname different from its (presumed) original form? Most people have heard one explanation: those names were “changed at Ellis Island,” altered either maliciously or ignorantly by port officials when the immigrant passed through. ![]() Rosemary Meszaros and Katherine Pennavaria GovDocs to the Rescue! Debunking an Immigration Myth ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |