Today in Labor History

Ellis Island

On this day in 1954, Ellis Island closed as an immigration entry point. After 1924 the famous island in Jersey City instead served as a detention and deportation center until 1954. Albert Einstein was among the millions of immigrants that were processed prior to the 1954 closure. After World War 2, Germans soldiers were imprisoned there as well as those on the left deemed hostile during the McCarthy period. Today Ellis Island houses an immigration museum. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were closed after damage by Hurricane Sandy. The storm hit a day after the Statue of Liberty reopened. It had just completed a year-long renovation. – 1954

“Chainsaw Al” Dunlap announced he was restructuring the Sunbeam Corporation and laid off 6,000 workers—half of the workforce
. Sunbeam later nearly collapsed after a series of scandals under Dunlap’s leadership that cost investors billions of dollars. – 1996

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