Between 1890 and 1910, more than twelve million immigrants traveled from Europe to Ellis Island. Doctors inspected thousands of people arriving there each day to make sure they were in good physical health. In 1907, Congress passed a law to also exclude "imbeciles, feeble-minded and persons with physical or mental defects which might affect their ability to earn a living." The new law meant that the doctors on Ellis Island had to inspect the minds of immigrants as well as their bodies.
( Carl Zimmer )
[ She Has Her Mother's Laugh: ]
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