Angel Island Immigration Station

Also know as the Ellis Island of the West, the Angel Island Immigration Station processed over a quarter million immigrants between 1910 and 1940.
Although they were from many different countries including Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, and Russia, most of them were Asian. And of the Asians, most of them were from Guangdong Province in Southern China.

97% of all the immigrants that went through Angel Island were Chinese.

Dad was one of these, arriving at the age of nine.
Luckily he only spent around three weeks here.

The Interrogation Table

Detainees were interrogated, sometimes daily, with the same questions to see if their stories were consistent with their previous answers.

It was a well know fact that many of the Chinese men were "paper sons".

Young detainees from Southern China.

Men (many of them young) from Guangdong province, far outnumbered women, and were housed in separated barracks.

By 1940 when the Immigration Station closed, over 175,000 Chinese had been processed.

The Game Room. Ping Pong, Mah-Jong, and a writing table.

The typical room for detainees would normally house 25 people comfortably, but were often crammed with up to 200 people.

Poem in Chinese etched on wall.

Although the average detainee spent less than a month on Angel Island, some were kept here for many years.

Some spent their time singing, reminiscing about their homeland, and etching poems on the walls.