Ellis Island Lantern Slides

This lantern slide is labelled “Italian girl” by amateur photographer Augustus Sherman, who took images of immigrants dressed in traditional costume as they arrived on Ellis Island. He worked at Ellis as the Chief Registry Clerk from 1892 until 1925. Don’t know what a lantern slide is? Click here.

The images are part of a special collection of the American Museum of Natural History. None of the slides are dated. The photographer wrote  “group Serbian Gypsies,” but the reference in the museum’s file reads: “Serbian Romanies.”

Holland – Dutch Women

Ruthenian girl. (Ruthenia is an imprecise region but the name generally refers to an area where the borders of Ukraine, Slovakia and Poland meet.)

Three Cossacks

This is a shot of the Immigration Station at Ellis Island. All images are from the American Museum of Natural History, Research Library, Digital Special Collection. Click on each image to go back to its original file.