This Is What Immigrants To The U.S. Looked Like Over 100 Years Ago

The photos are part of the New York Public Library's archive.

With President Donald Trump signing a new executive order on immigration on Monday, we’re reminded of those that immigrated to the U.S. many years ago.

Between 1905 and 1914, registry clerk and amateur photographer Augustus Sherman snapped pictures of people arriving at the Port of New York at Ellis Island. Those photographs are included in the William Williams papers, which are part of the New York Public Library’s archive. Williams was the commissioner of Immigration at the Port of New York on Ellis Island between 1902 and 1914.

The portraits capture many different people of many different ethnicities arriving to the U.S. for the first time, ready to start new lives in America.

See the portraits below and find more from the collection on Flickr.

Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A Danish man
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A Bavarian man
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A German stowaway
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A Guadeloupean woman
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
Three Dutch women
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A Turkish man
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A Romanian shepherd
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A Hindu boy
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
An Algerian man
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A Slovak woman and children
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
Dutch children
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
Pipers
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
Laplander
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
An Italian woman
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A Ruthenian woman
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
An Italian woman
Augustus F. Sherman/New York Public Library/Flickr
A girl from Rattvik, province of Dalarna, Sweden

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