Ellis Island: The Exams

Step 1: The Medical Exam

Once you arrived on Ellis Island, doctors examined you. As

you walked up the entry steps to the Great Hall, the doctors
looked at you to see if you had problems breathing or if you
were limping. If the doctors noticed you were limping,
having trouble breathing, or having any other visible
problems, they would put a chalk letter on your clothes.
Here are some of the markings: L = lameness, PG =
pregnant, X in a circle definite mental illness, or X= possible
mental illness. Follow this link to see the full list of
markings.

Once you got up to the top of the stairs, doctors made you
walk in a circle to check for further problems. Next, doctors
rolled back your eyelids with a button hook or their fingers.
They checked for a disease called trachoma. Trachoma is a
disease that causes you to go blind and is contagious.
***Present time note: The tour guides at Ellis Island said
that the buttonhook probably wasn't sterilized after every
person.*** If you had trachoma your chances of getting into
America medically were zilch. Doctors checked for all
contagious diseases. They also checked for lice and typhus.
All the medical exams put together took less than five
minutes.

Full List of Markings

1. X = possible mental
2. B = back
illness

3. E = eyes 4. P = physical or lungs

5. SC = scalp 6. L = lameness

7. CT =trachoma 8. PG = pregnancy

9. C = conjunctivitis 10. FT = feet

11. S = senility 12. N = neck

13. H = heart 14. SI = ( legal exam

only) you had to see the
board of special inquiry

15. X with circle around it 16. G = goiter

= definite mental illness

17. F = face 18. K = hernia

Goiter - A swelling of the neck resulting from enlargement of the thyroid gland.
Trachoma - a contagious bacterial infection of the eye in which there is inflamed granulation
on the inner surface of the lids.
Conjunctivitis - inflammation of the conjunctiva of the eye.
Hernia - a condition in which part of an organ is displaced and protrudes through the wall of
the cavity containing it (often involving the intestine at a weak point in the abdominal wall).

Step 2: The Mental Exam

After you had been checked out by the doctors,
you had to pass a mental exam. If doctors marked
you with an X or an X in a circle, the doctors paid
closer attention to you when you took these tests.
The doctors had you perform things that we think
are incredibly easy, but if you were an immigrant
who had no education, the tests were very hard.
Of course, not all immigrants did not have
education. The tests were easier for those
immigrants who did have an education. Some of
the puzzles immigrants had to complete were: a
steamship puzzle, a face puzzle, a happy sad face
puzzle, 2 matching puzzles, and several geometric
shape puzzles. Also, immigrants had to draw a
diamond and the diamonds were classified by how
many years of education the immigrant, who drew
it, had.

Step 3: The Legal Exam

The last exam was the legal exam. This exam was
very frightening for some immigrants because
they had to answer a lot of questions very quickly
and if they answered one wrong they could be
deported. They were asked about 30 questions in
2 minutes. In the legal exam, immigrants would be
asked questions like: What is your name? Do you
have any relatives here? Do you have a criminal
record? Have you ever been to the United States
before? Follow this link for the full list of
questions.

In order to pass the legal exam you had to have 25

U.S. dollars. If you did not have that much money,
you had to stay until you got it. Legal inspectors
would also check your ID to see if you were really
who you said you were. Legal inspectors also
determined if you were "Clearly and beyond a
doubt entitled to land".

In 1917, Congress passed the "Literacy Act" which

meant that any immigrant had to read a 40 word
passage in his native language. In 1921 and 1924
congress passed acts limiting the number of
immigrants from all countries.

Full List of Legal Questions

1.What is your name? 2. Have you ever been to

the America before?

3. Do you have any 4. Is there anyone who

relatives here? If the came to meet you at Ellis
answer was yes, then Island?
asked where they
lived.

5. Who paid for your 6. Do you have any money?

passage? ( If the answer was yes
then immigrant was told:
Let me see it.)

7. Do you have a job 8. Do you have a criminal

waiting for you in record?
America?