GALVESTON — The traveling exhibit Forgotten Gateway chronicles the Port of Galveston’s largely forgotten history as a major gateway to American immigration from 1845 to 1924.
Forgotten Gateway builds on a growing scholarly and public interest in the history of migration patterns to America and Galveston’s place as one of the nation’s top immigrant ports in that history.
Long before Ellis Island processed its first immigrant, Galveston was a port of entry for hundreds of thousands of immigrants.
While the New York counterpart made it a natural port for Europeans, Galveston attracted a diverse group of people from Europe, Mexico, South and Central America and even Asia. In addition, before the Civil War, it was a major port for forced migration — the sale and transport of slaves from Africa and other points in the United States to Texas.
The exhibit highlights enduring humanities themes in the history of immigration, including the dangers of the journey, making a life in a new land, navigating bureaucracy, confronting discrimination and becoming “American.”
These trials and tribulations are illuminated through personal stories, dynamic visitor interactive kiosks, engaging media pieces and more than 200 original artifacts and documents.
