Teichs on the Wall
Photo Credit: Samantha Teich
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Between 1892 and 1954, twelve million people came to the United States through the immigration processing center on Ellis Island in New York harbor. More than 40 percent of Americans can trace their roots to an ancestor who came through Ellis Island. Today, Ellis Island is an immigration museum, commemorating the experience of the people who arrived there and illustrating the diversity of the American people. One of its exhibits is "The American Immigrant Wall of Honor"®, said to be the largest wall of names in the world. Thirteen individuals named Teich are included under "T" on the original list, on panels 435 and 436 (7 men and 6 women), as well as two Teich families. There are 13 other Teichs elsewhere on the wall, either in panels that were added later or under other letters (women whose middle name is Teich). It is worth noting that the individuals whose names appear on the wall did not necessarily arrive at Ellis Island. In fact, the wall includes the names of American Indians, African slaves, and George Washington's great-grandfather, none of whom are likely to have come through Ellis Island. In fact, for a $100 contribution, anyone can designate a name to be engraved on the wall. In part, this approach reflects a kind of political correctness--i.e., every American is descended from an immigrant in some sense. In addition, it reflects the reality that the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service did not actually keep records at Ellis Island, and while the manifests of ships whose steerage passengers landed there do exist, it is not easy to prove that someone did or did not arrive at Ellis Island. Below are the names of Teichs who were listed on the wall as of May 2001.
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