2024-07-222024-07-229/18/2023https://hdl.handle.net/10929/117065The Registry Room was nicknamed the Great Hall because it is so big. The large rectangular room is 200 feet long and 102 feet wide. Many immigrants had never seen such a large indoor space. The waiting area in the Great Hall had long metal rails that helped maintain an orderly line as people went through the medical and legal inspections. Wooden benches were added in 1903. The noise in this room could be intense. The sounds of thousands of voices bounced off the vaulted ceilings. Officials in the Great Hall decided whether each person could enter the country right away or whether that person's case required further review. From 1903 to 1914, immigrants were checked for trachoma, a contagious eye disease. Doctors used a tool called a buttonhook to lift a person's eyelid to look for the disease. The buttonhook was a well-known and feared part of the immigration process. People with trachoma were often sent back to their home countries.Original file name The Registry Room on Ellis Island (1).jpg2048 x 1536Each photograph within this collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. Therefore, these photos may only be used in a way that is permitted by copyright and related rights legislation. The following terms of use for State Library patrons shall apply. 1. Educational Institution/student use is permitted as long as such usage adheres to all copyright and related rights legislation. In these instances, these photographs may only be used for educational or historical purposes. 2. Non-Commercial use is permitted without permission from the rights holder, as long as such use adheres to all copyright and related right legislation. 3. Under no circumstances may these photographs be used for commercial purposes without the direct permission of the rights-holder. 4. Under no circumstances may these photographs be used for political purposes. 5. Users must always give appropriate credit to the photographer. The credit may not in any way suggest the right's holder endorses the user or their use of the photographs. 6. Photographs may be copied or redistributed in any medium or format as long as such use does not violate copyright and related rights legislation. 7. Users may remix, transform, and rebuild upon the original photographs as long as it does not violate copyright and related rights legislation.The Registry Room on Ellis IslandNational Register of Historic PlacesNew Jersey Register of Historic PlacesNew York City LandmarkEllis IslandEllis Island Immigration MuseumLiberty State ParkState ParkNew Jersey State ParkGateway to AmericaStatue of LibertyLegal ImmigrationGatewayJersey CityNJJerseyHudson CountyThe Garden StateNew York HarborNew York CityNYCNew York