Ellis Island was added to the Statue of Liberty National Monument through the Lyndon B. Johnson administration in the early 1970's. Because of this, Ellis Island then became under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service and was restored...becoming the Ellis Island Museum.
In 1976, the Ellis Island Museum opened to the public, and over 50,000 people visited the museum before the year had concluded. Since it's opening in 1976, more than 20 million people have come and visited this historic site...
In 1945, a songwriter from Ireland was born...County Tipperary to be exact. His name is Branden Graham, and although by profession he became an Industrial Engineer, his "gift" of songwriting became so apparent that in 1993 he became a full-time songwriter.
One of the songs he wrote...was of Annie Moore of Ireland...in tribute to her coming to America...through Ellis Island. The lyrics go like this:
Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears...by Branden Graham
On the first day of January, eighteen ninety two,
They opened Ellis Island and let the people through,
And the first to cross the threshold of that isle of hope and tears,
Was Annie Moore from Ireland...who was all of fifteen years.
Chorus:
Isle of hope, Isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, Isle of fears,
But it's not the Isle you left behind.
That Isle of hunger, Isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again,
But the Isle of home is always on your mind.
In a little bag she carried all her past and history,
And her dreams for the future in the Land of Liberty.
And courage is the passport when your old world disappears,
But there's no future in the past when you're fifteen years.
Chorus: Repeat
When they closed down Ellis Island in nineteen forty three,
Seventeen million people...had come for sanctuary.
And in the springtime when I came here and stepped onto its peers,
I thought of how it must have been when you're fifteen years...
Chorus: Repeat
The End
A poem for Annie Moore of Ireland....
" Annie Moore of Ireland, lived a quiet life,
Residing in New York City...on the 4th Ward side.
Noted for its "rougher type",yet humble and contrite,
Annie found her home, becoming a part of American pride!
She married a Joseph Schayer, a baker if truth be known,
Together they bore 10 children, 5 died before full grown.
She passed in life quietly, much like her life had been,
Yet left a living legacy, and forever grateful America is.
For what a day it was in 1892,
When Annie Moore of Ireland,
Came through the "Island's Gate"
Joining with her Mom and Dad...
In making America great!"
In my daily prayers,
When I offer up my praise,
I remember the "Annie Moores"
And the "American Dream" they so embraced.
My heart "runneth over" with gratefulness to what they gave,
For the freedom and for the dreams...they have now passed on to me!
In my prayers of silence, it suddenly occurs to me,
The "Annie Moores of Ireland" understood the meaning...
"Home of the Brave...and Land of the Free."
by Myself...Joe Greer
In 1945, a songwriter from Ireland was born...County Tipperary to be exact. His name is Branden Graham, and although by profession he became an Industrial Engineer, his "gift" of songwriting became so apparent that in 1993 he became a full-time songwriter.
One of the songs he wrote...was of Annie Moore of Ireland...in tribute to her coming to America...through Ellis Island. The lyrics go like this:
Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears...by Branden Graham
On the first day of January, eighteen ninety two,
They opened Ellis Island and let the people through,
And the first to cross the threshold of that isle of hope and tears,
Was Annie Moore from Ireland...who was all of fifteen years.
Isle of hope, Isle of tears,
Isle of freedom, Isle of fears,
But it's not the Isle you left behind.
That Isle of hunger, Isle of pain,
Isle you'll never see again,
But the Isle of home is always on your mind.
In a little bag she carried all her past and history,
And her dreams for the future in the Land of Liberty.
And courage is the passport when your old world disappears,
But there's no future in the past when you're fifteen years.
Chorus: Repeat
When they closed down Ellis Island in nineteen forty three,
Seventeen million people...had come for sanctuary.
And in the springtime when I came here and stepped onto its peers,
I thought of how it must have been when you're fifteen years...
Chorus: Repeat
The End
A poem for Annie Moore of Ireland....
" Annie Moore of Ireland, lived a quiet life,
Residing in New York City...on the 4th Ward side.
Noted for its "rougher type",yet humble and contrite,
Annie found her home, becoming a part of American pride!
Together they bore 10 children, 5 died before full grown.
She passed in life quietly, much like her life had been,
Yet left a living legacy, and forever grateful America is.
For what a day it was in 1892,
When Annie Moore of Ireland,
Came through the "Island's Gate"
Joining with her Mom and Dad...
In making America great!"
In my daily prayers,
When I offer up my praise,
I remember the "Annie Moores"
And the "American Dream" they so embraced.
My heart "runneth over" with gratefulness to what they gave,
For the freedom and for the dreams...they have now passed on to me!
In my prayers of silence, it suddenly occurs to me,
The "Annie Moores of Ireland" understood the meaning...
"Home of the Brave...and Land of the Free."
by Myself...Joe Greer
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