I was enjoying a documentary on the Smithsonian Channel called Aerial Ireland on Sunday night.It was lovely to see the beauty of various historic places in Ireland, and to learn something of its history. And then..... the narrator explained that
....1845 saw millions of Americans come through Ellis Island to America.
WHAAAAAT???? My mouth dropped. I turned to my husband and exclaimed in horror "Ellis Island wasn't in existence then! Neither was Castle Garden!"
Yes my friends, the Smithsonian Channel got it wrong. Castle Garden, the receiving station for the port of New York, opened in1855. Ellis Island replaced Castle Garden in 1892.
The dates for various receiving stations, and when there was no receiving station in New York, are:
1624-31 July 1855: no receiving station
1 Aug. 1855-18 Apr. 1890: Castle Garden
19 Apr. 1890-31 Dec. 1891: Barge Office
1 Jan. 1892-14 June 1897: Ellis Island
15 June 1897-16 Dec. 1900: Barge Office
17 Dec. 1900-1924: Ellis Island (FN 1)
You may think I am over-reacting but I'm horrified that the Smithsonian Channel could get the facts so wrong. And it has ruined my previous enjoyment of the documentary because now I am wondering what else they got wrong in this program.
Why oh why is there not some kind of quality check on documentaries like this?
(FN 1): hhttps://www.olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/tousa_ny.shtml
1 comment:
You should send your comments to the Smithsonian Channel, so they are aware of their errors.
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