Towards the Beacon of Light and Hope

Celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with Dr. Robert Marraccino, Dr. Michael Vigorito, and Denise Giachetta-Ryan, MPH, MSN, of the Save Ellis Island Foundation, as they trace the journey of immigrants through New York Harbor from the Staten Island Quarantine to Ellis Island. Beginning with the historic Quarantine grounds surrounding today’s National Lighthouse Museum, the program will explore the experiences of immigrants arriving in New York, with special attention to Irish immigration during the Great Hunger and the overcrowded “coffin ships” that carried thousands across the Atlantic. The speakers will examine how epidemics, immigration, maritime commerce, and a growing population shaped the development of medical inspection, sanitation, hospitals, and public health in New York Harbor.

The program will consider the tension between humanitarian ideals, public health protections, economic needs, and fears of newcomers, while exploring the medical and scientific advances that helped generations of “tempest-tossed” immigrants build new lives in America.