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American Family Immigration History Center and Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation New York, NY 2002 to date URL: http://www.ellisisland.org Gratis, but full access with $45 annual fee Last visited April 2003
Keywords Immigrants, USA
Review DOI 10.1108/09504120310490967
The Ellis Island passenger records database of the American Family Immigration History Center has become one of the most valuable Web tools for genealogists. Made possible with the assistance of volunteers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the database consists of over 22 million passenger and crew records from between 1892 and 1924, the peak period of immigration to the USA. When it was first launched in April 2001, the site was so inundated with search requests that traffic had to be curtailed for a period. Now, almost two years later, the site is faster, more robust and more accessible to users.
Registration is free but necessary to be able to view the actual ship manifests. Free membership enables only basic site access, and full access is granted only to members that pay an annual fee of $45.00. This membership enables a user to create and maintain a family history scrapbook, receive a copy of it in print or on CD-ROM and have the privilege of annotating passenger records in the archive. Scrapbooks may be viewed online in the Ellis Island Family History Archive or may be designated for private viewing only. All who register have the option of purchasing copies of manifests and/or ship photographs.
The database records do vary but most provide the passenger's name, former residence, date of arrival, age...