Many portraits of immigrants have now been digitally colourised for a book called ‘The Paper Time Machine’. 12 million men, women and children immigrated to New York between 1892 and 1954. These immigrants were from all over the world with varied cultural backgrounds. The photographs were taken between 1906 and 1914 by photographer Augustus Francis Sherman, was the chief registry clerk at Ellis Island. These photos are over a hundred years old.
They arrived at Ellis Island, many dressed in their finest clothes. They usually took all the valuables they owned with them. The portraits show immigrants in their national dress, such as clothing of the Sámi people from the Arctic regions, bonnets from the Netherlands and military uniforms from Albania. These photographs have been colourised by specialists at Dynamichrom, and they have used historical references to get precisely the right colour, by looking at postcards and colour photos from later on.
In the photograph of “Ruthenian Woman” 1906, the woman was Slavic-speaking. Her Ruthenian traditional dress included a linen shirt and underskirt, embroidered with floral patterns and a sheepskin jacket.
In “Laplander”, taken in 1910, the immigrant is wearing clothes of the Sámi people from the area of Norway to Russia. The material is made from leather, wool, velvet and silks with a blue pullover, and she wears plaits, brooches and jewellery. The costume is called Gákti and is worn for ceremonies as well as for work.
In “Alsace-Lorraine Girl”, taken in 1906, the immigrant is from what is now France and wears a large bow called a schlupfkàpp indicating that she is single. Different coloured bows indicate different religion, black for Protestants and bright colours for Catholics.
“Cossak Man” taken between 1906 and 1914, depicts a soldier who at this time served as border guards or police. He is wearing a lamb wool hat and a green coat with yellow marking. The coat has a number of pouches to keep metal powder tubes used in firearms.
It is important to recognise these immigrants and we can learn a lot by examining their dress, which tells us a little bit about their lifestyle. Colouring the photographs bring them to life and there is a lot of history in these images.