Boston: Ellis Island experience, Sept. 13

The Ellis Island experience of our ancestors will be the focus of the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston on Sunday, September 13.

This meeting will kick off the JGSGB's program year, and will run from 1:30-4pm at Gann Academy, 333 Forest Street in Waltham.

Were immigrants’ names changed at Ellis Island? Professor Vincent J. Cannato will discuss whether this is fact or fiction at the kick-off meeting for this season’s programs of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston (JGSGB). Professor Cannato’s presentation on the Ellis Island immigration experience will pay special attention to the experiences of Jewish immigrants.

He will discuss why an inspection station was created in 1892 on a small island in New York Harbor and how America’s immigration law evolved, and explain the inspection process and why some immigrants were rejected.

The program includes a sale and book signing for Cannato's new book, “American Passage: The History of Ellis Island."

He teaches history at the University of Massachusetts, Boston and is the author of "The Ungovernable City: John Lindsay and His Struggle to Save New York." He has written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post.

The program is free for JGSGB members ($5 for others). For directions, click here. For more information on the society, future programs, resources and more, visit its website.