Detained at the Golden Door: The Unseen Side of Ellis Island
These photographs were made as a result of a visit in 2017 to the Contagious Disease Hospital on Ellis Island, a wing of the large hospital complex where immigrant arrivals with serious illnesses were detained. The deserted rooms, corridors, and stairways of this institution continue to tell its story despite the crackled walls, crumbled floor coverings, and painted surfaces dulled by time.
Unlike the restored main immigration building on the north side of the island, the Ellis Island hospital complex on the south side, which opened in 1902, stands in a state of arrested decay that began when Ellis Island closed its doors in 1954. The Save Ellis Island Foundation has partnered with the National Park Service to restore the hospital site.
