Between 1892 and 1954, more than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island. Most crossings took 8 to 14 days — and a steerage ticket cost about $30, months of wages for a working family.

For families like the family family, steerage meant tiered berths below the waterline, bread and soup from the galley — and precious hours on the open deck when the weather allowed.

At Ellis Island, inspectors worked down a list of twenty-nine questions, and doctors formed their judgment in about six seconds — yet ninety-eight of every hundred arrivals walked through into America.