Ellis Island, New York's immigration transfer station between 1892 and 1924 was closed as a deportation detention facility in 1954 and offered for sale by the US Government. Although replaced by new means of immigration it was never forgotten and eventually restored physcially and in importance. Jeff's tour of Ellis Island traces its beginnings as a place to gather oysters to its transformation into an evolving view of immigration policy, public health and our nation's values. While much has changed since the first immigrants arrived the themes, forces and ideologies are amazingly similar.