GSBC General Meeting – In-Person
More Stories From Ellis Island: Those Who Were Held
Presentation by Fred J Voss (in person)
Monday, 29 April 2024 @ 7pm Eastern
Open to GSBC Members and non-Members

Summary: From 1892 to 1954, more than 12.5 million immigrants were processed through Ellis Island. Coming from all corners of the world, these souls—whom nearly 40% of Americans can call "family"—left behind possessions and family to reinvent themselves in America. Most were processed through Ellis Island without incident. But some immigrants found themselves detained due to mental or physical illness, because their paperwork was not in order, or because those who were due to receive them did not show. What kind of stories could they tell?

Speaker: Fred Voss is a professional genealogist, researcher, and educator. He has been doing personal genealogy for over 35 years and is a Trustee and Education Chair for the Genealogical Society of Bergen County. His areas of interest are Germany, Switzerland, and New Hampshire, with special interest in DNA, AI, Immigration, and Naturalization.
Mr. Voss is a certificate holder of the Boston University Genealogical Research Certification program (OL13). He is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and the International Society of Genetic Genealogists as well as various regional societies.
He volunteered as a tour guide at Ellis Island for over 9 years, leading both historical and photographic tours of the abandoned hospitals on the south side of the island (SaveEllisIsland.org).
He graduated from Boston College with a BA in Mathematics. He has spent his career working for and with software startup companies such as Netscape Communications, Sun Microsystems, and Oracle.