Immigration:

Where can I find overview information?

The American Immigration Home Page - This site is a good starting point to gain an understanding of immigration in the United States. While some documents are available for you to review, these pages (put together by high school students) are intended to provide an overview.

Ellis Island Experience - Try this site to see students playing the part of immigrants to the United States. Journal entries are used to help you live the experience of those people who gave up their homeland to move to the land of opportunity.

Ellis Island - The History Channel provides a nice introduction to the Ellis Island experience. You will find a host of helpful information here.

1850 Census Records Books - Search the 1850 census records to track your family if they arrived in the United States prior to that date.

Where can I find biographical information for famous immigrants to the United States?

Biography.com - As the name suggests, biographies can be found here if you are unable to locate needed information elsewhere.

Immigrants Hall of Fame - Try this site for famous immigrants. The site is organized by country, by professional field, or by selecting the first letter of a particular person. You will quickly see how many famous people in this country (both living and dead) took advantages of opportunities here after moving here from another place.

Where can I find copies of important documents?

Chinese Exclusion Act - You will find a copy of this legislation at this site. The document has been typed (not scanned) and is easy to read.

The Gospel of Wealth - While this piece applies to the rise of big business and financial empires, inferences are made regarding the role of immigrant labor.

Where can I find helpful pictures?

Ellis Island - Many small frames with pictures are on the left side of this site. Simply click on the frames you would like to see, and a larger version will appear.

Ellis Island Immigration - A total of 24 images on 3 pages can be found at this site. You will get a better feel for what new immigrants had to go through when you visit this site and view the images.

What about immigration laws and current immigration restrictions?

Immigration and Naturalization Service - Questions you haven't even thought of yet are answered here!

American Immigration Center - Try this site for current immigration requirements, forms and visas. If you don't know the difference between an Immigrant Visa and a Non-immigrant Visa, this is the place to visit.

Where can I go to find information about my family heritage?

Ellis Island website - Try the immigrant search at the top of the page on this website to locate information about your ancestor.

Social Security Death Index - If your family member had a Social Security number, you may find helpful information here.

Ancestry.com - Try this site for additional information about your relatives.

Rootsweb.com - Once again, try this site for additional information about your relatives.

Cyndi's List - This site is home to the largest collection of genealogy links on the world wide web. If you can't find the link you are looking for here, it may not exist!

The Mormon Collection - The Mormons have one of the most extensive collections of family histories in the United States. This may be an excellent source to check even if they don't represent your religious convictions.