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Summary: The history of Asian immigration to Angel Island
Review: I have seen Angel Island every time I have visited San Francisco, but I never knew that from 1910 to 1940 it was the location of an Immigration Station that was the main point of entry into the United States for tens of thousands of Asian immigrants. However, Larry Dane Brimner makes it clear in this juvenile history for the Cornerstones of Freedom series that Angel Island was not simply the west coast counterpart to Ellis Island. In fact, the goal was often to exclude Chinese immigrants rather than welcome them to the United States. Ultimately, this volume is half about the facilities on Angel Island and how immigrants were processed, and half about the reasons for Chinese immigration in the 19th century and Japanese immigration in the 20th. What young readers will remember about this book are the key details, such as the poem carved by a Chinese immigrant into the wall of the dormitory where he was unfairly being held and the coaching book immigrants used to answer questions so they would end up being admitted. Ironically, Angel Island closed not because the U.S. changed its policy towards Chinese immigration, but because the administration building was destroyed by a fire and it cost too much to rebuild it on the island. Angel Island went on to hold prisoners of war during World War II and then a defensive base of Nike missiles was installed for a while. Today the island is a State Park and the dormitory because a museum and was saved from destruction when the poems covering its walls were rediscovered. Young readers researching immigration topics will find this an informative little volume about an aspect of that issue that only gets touched upon in your standard American history textbook.
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