GENEALOGY LIFE

Happy 20th Anniversary, Ellis Island Immigrant Database!

What a difference two decades make

Author’s memorabilia from the launch of the AFIHC and database

In April of 2001, a miracle occurred. Well, it certainly seemed that way at the time. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation (SOLEIF) opened the American Family Immigration History Center (AFIHC), launching an online database — digitized and indexed — of…