Sherman was intrigued by immigrants' cultures and most feature subjects in national costumes or folk dress

Amateur photographer and register clerk Augustus Sherman took the pictures on Ellis Island in early 20th century

The fascinating images taken in early 20th century reveal the diverse cultures of immigrants coming to America


These fascinating photographs capture America's rich cultural heritage through the lives of the immigrants who helped shape the country.

Taken at Ellis Island in the early 20th century, they reveal the diverse and unique history of the U.S. as a nation of immigrants.

Amateur photographer Augustus Sherman, who worked as the chief registry clerk on Ellis Island from 1892 to 1925, was intrigued by people's background and culture. Most of his 250 pictures feature subjects dressed in their elaborate national costumes or folk dress.

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A Romanian piper is evidence of the diverse costumes and native dress that came through Ellis Island in droves in the early 20th century

A young Swedish girl in traditional pointed hat and eleborate costume is pictured on Ellis Island while her family wait to be approved to travel to the mainland (left) while a Slovak woman and her son (right) were one of millions of families who fled Hungarian persecution to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries

Three women are pictured from Guadeloupe, a French overseas territory in the southern Caribbean Sea, arrived at Ellis Island on their way to America

A couple of Dutch children, dressed in their traditional clogs and costume, clutch onto their immigration forms in the pictures by photographer Augustus Sherman

They were taken during the height of immigration to the U.S. from the 1890's to the 1950's, when millions of the disposed, the persecuted, and people just looking for a chance to pursue a new life, would have passed through Ellis Island.

Many of the people featured were families or individuals who were being detained on the island for medical reasons, or as they waited for money, travel tickets or to be collected.

His subjects, dressed in the exotic local garb of mostly Eastern and Southern Europe, would go on to become the founding mothers and fathers of communities across the continent that exist to this day.

The fascinating collection includes a Slovakian family, one of millions who fled Hungarian persecution to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Others came to seek their fortune in a new land of promise.

One man, covered in tattoos, is simply referred to as a German stowaway by the amateur photographer and register clerk

Three unsmiling Dutch women show off their traditional head gear and long skirts while they were detained on Ellis Island

A Greek soldier (left) and Dutch woman (right) are pictured on Ellis Island in the early 20th century. Sherman, who worked as the chief registry clerk on Ellis Island from 1892 to 1925, was fascinated by immigrants' background and culture and most his subjects are dressed in elaborate national costumes or folk dress

Taken by amateur photographer Augustus Sherman, his portfolio reveals the diverse and unique history of the U.S. as a nation of immigrants including this Ruthenian woman

Not everyone who came through Ellis Island did so in search of refuge. This trio of Scottish boys were brought by their family seeking their fortune

Romanian shepherds, Russian Cossacks and Greek soldiers were just a few among the millions hoping to make a new life in America.

Yet Sherman's notes offer only the most tantalizing of glimpses into the life of the immigrants risking it all to reach the Land of the Free.

One man, covered in tattoos, is simply referred to as a German stowaway by the amateur photographer.

Sherman, born in 1865 in Lynn, Pennsylvania, never received any training as a photographer in an age where the art was still in its infancy.

But his incredible pictures serve as a historic tapestry of America's diverse beginnings.

In 1907, they were published in National Geographic magazine and framed versions hung on the walls of headquarters of the federal Immigration Service in Manhattan.

Today, they are now housed by the New York Public Library.

A Turkish man (right) and Algerian (left) are featured among hundreds of images of people wearing their folk costumes taken by amateur photographer Augustus Sherman

A Bavarian man is snapped in the early 20th century by Sherman who worked as the Chief Registry Clerk on Ellis Island from 1892 until 1925

A group of Russian Cossacks who were most likely detainees who were waiting for money, travel tickets or someone to come and collect them from the island

The historic photographs of immigrants were all taken at Ellis Island – known as the ‘Gateway to America’ – which was the country’s largest and most active immigration station processing more than 12 million people from 1892 to 1924

The historic photographs of immigrants were all taken at Ellis Island – known as the ‘Gateway to America’ – which was the country’s largest and most active immigration station processing more than 12 million people from 1892 to 1924.

The National Park Service estimates more than 40 per cent of Americans have ancestors that passed through Ellis Island.

Sadly, reaching the island was not the end of the journey.

Those who were successfully processed were allowed to continue through the golden door with the promise of a new life, freedoms and hope.

But sometimes families who made it through the perilous voyage surviving on crusts of bread, perhaps losing a member en route, only to find out that one of the children had an illness.

They would be given a short time to say goodbye before their child was quarantined and sent home, never to see their family again.

Ellis Island was used exclusivley for the poorer passengers as those in first and second class were considered wealthy enough not to become a burden.

Construction began in 1890 to remove the burden from New York Harbor which had processed nearly eight million new arrivals at the Castle Garden Immigration Depot in lower Manhattan, in the 35 years before Ellis Island came in to service.

These fascinating photographs (pictured are three Slovak women) capture the rich cultural melting pot of American immigrants as they pass through Ellis Island in the early 20th century

Sherman's notes offer only the most tantalizing of glimpses into the life of the immigrants risking it all to reach the Lane of the Free such as this Dane (left) or Albanian (right)

The first immigrant to pass though the station was 17-year-old Annie Moore from Cork, Ireland, one of the 700 immigrants arriving on the opening day on January 1, 1892. Almost 450,000 immigrants were processed at the station during its first year.

Immigrants spent between three to five hours on the island where they underwent medical examinations and questioned about their income.

Around two per cent were denied entry because they were found to either have a criminal past or be suffering from a contagious disease.

Facilities proved to barely handle the flood of immigrants that arrived in the years just before World War I.

Writer Louis Adamic came to America from Slovenia in southeastern Europe in 1913 and described the night he and many other immigrants slept on bunk beds in a huge hall.

Lacking a warm blanket, the young man 'shivered, sleepless, all night, listening to snores' and dreams 'in perhaps a dozen different languages'.

By the 1920s, immigration authorities had placed restrictions on those entering from Southern and Eastern Europe who were looked down upon compared to those from the North or West of Europe.

By the time the Second World War broke out, Ellis Island, also a detention and deportation station, was used to hold German, Italian, and Japanese residents.

In 1907, the photographs, including this of two Romanian women, were published in National Geographic magazine

Romanian shepherds (pictured), Russian Cossacks and Greek soldiers were just a few among the millions hoping to make a new life in America

The pictures, such as this Norweigan lady (left) or Lapland woman (right), were also hung on the walls of the headquarters of the Federal Immigration Service in Manhattan

The incredible images, such as this one of two Lapland children, serve as a historic tapestry of America's diverse beginnings

The pictures also reveal the changing dress over the last hundred or so years, such as these Italian women's traditional costumes in the early 20th century

A young Hindu man is one of millions of immigrants who risked everything to make the perilious journey across the sea to America

Many of the people featured were families or individuals who were being detained on the island for medical reasons, or as they waited for money, travel tickets or to be collected, such as this woman from Guadeloupe

His subjects, dressed in the exotic local garb of mostly Eastern and Southern Europe, would go on to become the founding mothers and fathers of communities across the continent that exist to this day (left is a Bavarian man, right a Greek woman)