Ellis Island is an important symbol in American history and identity. Located in New York City, it was the processing point for millions of immigrants arriving on the East Coast of the US. Throughout the 1800s and early 1900s, regional conflicts, especially political upheavals in Europe, produced millions of immigrants looking for opportunities in America during its Industrial Age. The Orphan of Ellis Island depicts the effects of poverty in Italy. Italy in this period had no middle class; wealthy landowners with a legacy of power controlled rural Italian life in the early 20th century. There were no social structures or agencies to support young orphans, and the Candiano brothers would have experienced lifelong poverty if they had stayed in Italy. Instead, moving to New York and New Jersey allows them to become part of a different system of education, employment, and opportunity.

On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore was the first immigrant processed at Ellis Island. Annie Moore, a teenager from Ireland, represents the influx of immigrants from Ireland and other parts of Europe whose immigration to the US helped build the culture and infrastructure of America.

Although Ellis Island is still the symbol of freedom and opportunity, the Candiano brothers’ story exposes the challenges all poor immigrants at Ellis Island experienced.