New York, New York, Index to Passengers Lists of Vessels, 1897-1902

What is in This Collection?

This collection contains indexes to passenger lists of vessels arriving at New York, New York. The records were compiled between 1897 and 1902. It corresponds with NARA series T519. The cards are arranged in alphabetical order and contain such information as name, date and place of birth, sex, occupation, nationality, place of last residence, etc.

Passenger arrival lists, or customs manifests, date back to 1820. The first official emigration station for New York was Castle Garden, located at the tip of lower Manhattan. Congressional action in 1891 resulted in federal immigration officials recording the immigrants’ arrival. After January 1892, passengers arriving in New York debarked at Ellis Island, located east of Manhattan in the New York Harbor. From 1892 to 1924, almost all immigrants entered the United States through the port of New York.

When passengers arrived at Ellis Island, they were asked a series of questions designed to determine whether they would be able to support themselves and did not have any health problems. The information was supplied by the immigrant or a traveling companion (usually a family member). Only 2% of immigrants were denied entry into the United States.

The passenger lists are usually two typed pages divided into columns and rows. When you select an image to view, sometimes the manifest includes more than one page, and when you use the "click to enlarge manifest" link, the image that appears is not always the first page. To view the other page, use the "previous" or "next" links.

Additional records and/or images may be added to this collection in the future.

What Can These Records Tell Me?

The following information may be found in these records:

Collection Content

Sample Images

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  1898 Index Card

Inventory

For a list of all the titles included in this Historical Records publication see New York, New York, Index to Passengers Lists of Vessels - Inventory