Uncovering Difficult Journeys

ASPR is proud to represent the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. You can learn more about its recent activities in the news release below and at this link to a TV interview ASPR arranged:  http://bit.ly/1S7Y465

Seventy-Five Years after Last Immigrant Arrived in America through Angel Island,

Painful Legacy Lives On

Former Detainees and Descendants to Reflect, Remember during Special Reunion Event

 

SAN FRANCISCO–June 25, 2015–The last immigrant who passed through the U.S. Immigration Station at Angel Island was processed 75 years ago, yet former detainees and their descendants will soon return to remember and honor these difficult journeys.

The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation will hold a Family Day and Reunion Day Sat., July 11 on the island, which is six miles by ferry from San Francisco.

From 1910 to 1940, Angel Island was the site of an immigration station that enforced policies designed to exclude, rather than welcome, many Pacific Coast immigrants coming from 82 countries. More than half a million people were processed through Angel Island; many were sent home after the U.S. government determined they were undesirable.

Nearly 100 former detainees and descendants of those who were processed through Angel Island are expected to attend the day-long series of events that will include recognition of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Jewish, Russian and Indian family history.

Expert genealogists from the community and Ancestry.com will also be available to help people search for their roots.

The event also will be an opportunity for AIISF to share details about Immigrant Heritage Benches, a new special commemorative opportunity as part of the Open the Doors campaign to create the Angel Island State Park Pacific Coast Immigration Center. Supporters are invited to be part of this campaign by honoring the legacy of those who came before us, shaping our lives and the history of America. Located in historically significant locations at the Immigration Station site, there are 36 permanent benches available for personal dedication.

 

9:45–10:45 a.m.          Arrival by ferry on the island and 25 minute walk to Immigration Station (shuttle available for seniors and disabled)

11:15–1 p.m.               Speakers

  • Sam Louie, docent and descendant of Angel Island immigrants
  • Maria Sakovich, Russian public historian
  • Grace Yoo, professor, San Francisco State University, who will discuss Korean immigrants
  • Mel Orpilla, Filipino American National Historical Society
  • Jeffrey Klein, whose mother Rosa was questioned on Angel Island in 1940 after a harrowing journey from Austria by way of Italy, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) and China to escape the Nazis
  • Nancy Ukai Russell, journalist

 

1:00–3:00                    Exploration of immigration station; community members who have conducted a lot of research will share their findings in Room 105 of the Immigration Station and in the WWII Mess Hall.

3:00 and later              Return to ferry docks

FERRY INFO TO ANGEL ISLAND

 

From San Francisco: Take the 9:45 a.m., Blue and Gold Fleet from Pier 41

From Oakland: Take the 9 a.m., San Francisco Bay Ferry to San Francisco Pier 41, transfer to

Blue and Gold Fleet

From Tiburon: Take the 10 a.m., Angel Island Tiburon Ferry from 21 Main St., Belvedere

Tiburon

From Vallejo: Take the 8:30 a.m., San Francisco Bay Ferry to San Francisco Pier 41, transfer to Blue and Gold Fleet

###